Recommended Books to Read: Rescuing the Indian's Bride by Cora Leland

Wondering ‘What should I read next?’ Rescuing the Indian's Bride by Cora Leland.

“We don’t capture women. We’ll never harm you.”

At seventeen, Lizzie Calder was secretly kidnapped by a handful of violent Lakota Sioux. They even hid this from the chief.

But her hunger strike blew the secretive warriors’ plans sky high. The chief’s son came to help and things seemed better. His mother cooked for Lizzie, boiled her water, and made her feel wanted. Red Thunder even asked her to dance in their ceremonies.

Lizzie and Thunder Hawk rode and talked for hours every day. She watched him fall in love with her, and her own feelings grew strong. After a month, he asked her about settling down, getting married.

But Lizzie sensed dishonesty. He’d avoided talking about the kidnapping, the raid on her family’s homestead, or her future. She didn’t know if her family had died or was waiting for her.

She had to know the truth if she married Thunder Hawk. Then she met settlers who offered to help her. Frustrated and scared, Lizzie escaped.

This drove Thunder Hawk close to madness. Carefully he sifted through every word, every look until he understood. He used all his wiles as the chief’s only son to learn where she’d gone. When he finally found her, she'd learned everything about her folks. Then he wrote to her because she’d be suffering, and she’d need him.

She soon learned that women weren’t always treated well in everyday life after being held hostage with native tribes. Mixed-marriages were criticized and even dangerous. Settlers sometimes called her ‘squaw’ and she was slandered as a prostitute. At an army luncheon, one woman remarked that she ‘smelled.’ She couldn't help knowing that the closing of the Frontier marked dangerous years. Lizzie wasn’t afraid of this. But Thunder Hawk knew what lay ahead.
 
I’m always looking for the best books to read, and I need book recommendations. Email me to let me know your favorites and maybe I’ll feature them on future blog posts.