This magnificent novel by one of America’s finest writers is the epic of one man’s remarkable journey, set in nineteenth-century America against the background of a vanishing people and a rich way of life. At the age of twelve, under the Wind moon, Will is given a horse, a key, and a map, and sent alone into the Indian Nation to run a trading post as a bound boy. It is during this time that he … this time that he grows into a man, learning, as he does, of the raw power it takes to create a life, to find a home. In a card game with a white Indian named Featherstone, Will wins—for a brief moment—a mysterious girl named Claire, and his passion and desire for her spans this novel. As Will’s destiny intertwines with the fate of the Cherokee Indians—including a Cherokee Chief named Bear—he learns how to fight and survive in the face of both nature and men, and eventually, under the Corn Tassel Moon, Will begins the fight against Washington City to preserve the Cherokee’s homeland and culture. And he will come to know the truth behind his belief that “only desire trumps time.”
Brilliantly imagined, written with great power and beauty by a master of American fiction, Thirteen Moons is a stunning novel about a man’s passion for a woman, and how loss, longing and love can shape a man’s destiny over the many moons of a life.
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Compelling story, amazing prose!
One of the most memorable books I’ve read. I read this a few years ago and it still stands out in my mind. I read at least two books a week, so that’s saying a lot! What a story!
Gone full circle—feeling the machinery of the 20th century: automobiles and the Edison music machine—in the winter season of Will’s life: “My future behind me, I let gravity take me into the bed. Practicing for the Nightland.” Bound and obliged at the age of twelve; an observer resistant to the removal of the Cherokee and their retreat …
I don’t want to give away the ending but the beginning words say it all: “There is no scatheless rapture.”
The main character remembers his life as an orphaned, bound boy to a merchant who trades with the Cherokee Nation. As he adjusts to his new situation, he learns a great many things: who to avoid or trust, how to communicate, how to show …
Really like this author’s writing style
A fictionalized attempt to being to life the history of Appalachian North Carolina in the 19th century.
Will Cooper is a stand-in for the real-life William Holden Thomas (despite the author’s assertions to the contrary), a white orphan who lives among the Cherokee, rises to the position of “white chief” among them, becomes a Confederate soldier, …
Historical fiction based on a real person, a man who lived an amazing life that found him, as a boy, running a trading post inside the Cherokee territory in the early 19th century, witness to the Cherokee removal, and then through the Civil War and the coming of the railroad and the automobile. Highly recommend.
Frazier is a master story-teller. Beautifully written in classic Frazier lush prose, the story is relayed in first person point of view by Will Cooper taking us through his life during the time of the Indian Removal (Trail of Tears), of the Cherokee. Historical Fiction at its best, we learn a great deal about the Cherokee and America’s greed, but …
It just sort of went on and on without having a direction. It was so similar to the author’s first novel. Same outline.
I loved every page of this book and could hardly put it down. Charles Frazier is a marvelous writer.
What a BEAUTIFUL book ~ from its description of place to that of the soul.
Fabulous book with fascinating characters that takes place in an interesting time.
Well written and interesting
This the second Charles Frazier book I have read, tho I never got through Cold Mountain. This was better. Love his descriptive writing. You can feel, hear and smell the scenes he describes. But was very slow moving, and found myself skimming portions. I like historical and this books had an a great timeline in US history. Enjoyed
good writing style and inside look at Indians of this area
Wonderful use of language and character building. The trail of tears made real for a change.
An excellent telling, as historical fiction, of the interplay between Cherokee cultures and the Scots-Irish who settled also in the NC mountains. The main character lives in both worlds, and the plot revolves around his efforts to prevent the expropriation of Cherokee land and the deportation during the Presidency of Andrew Jackson.
Best book I’ve read! Highly recommend.
Pretty blah. I was disappointed. The main character was ultimately not interesting, his romance unbelievable. A disappointment after Cold Mountain.
Slow. Too much detailed description.