There is no doubt that this is one of the most romantic stories I've ever come across. It's beautifully told, and long, so you watch them grow up and change over several years. Coy, red-haired Gives Grain and hardened Middle Road Maker have carved a place inside my heart. And this is why I am DNF-ing for now. I'd like to let them live undisturbed together in my head for a little longer, knowing what more is in store for them. This book covers roughly 30 years from the Native American perspective, encompassing the Pony Express War and all the carnage and massacres that continued to follow and plague them. If all your knowledge only came from the measly couple paragraphs from your history textbook, this will be an awakening for you. But the love, the characters, and the culture just leaps off these pages.And if you're not already familiar with Rose Christo's writings, I wholeheartedly encourage you to start with her [b:Gives Light|15810499|Gives Light (Gives Light, #1)|Rose Christo|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1344491925s/15810499.jpg|21535494] series so you can experience falling in love with her characters yourself.
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Finished. Someday I'll try to write a proper review for this, right now my heart just feels broken. I became sort of numb in the last few pages. If you're feeling brave today, I would urge you to read this. It's painful, oh it is, tears were streaming down my face in the end. This is a part of history that has been much buried and overlooked. But what I choose to take away from this is the sheer LOVE between Gives Grain and Middle Road Maker, between them and their extended adopted family over the years, Little Light, Red Clay, Forgiver, Lost Woman...so many more that all came alive for me and who I grew to know so incredibly well. Love, laughter, joy, terror, grief, hope, family...I felt as I had experienced everything alongside them.
