Thirteen Moons [Paperback]

I must qualify my review by saying that cold Mountain was one of my favorite reads of the 1990s and I have patiently been waiting for Mr. Fraizer's sophomore effort. I was thrilled to receive an advance readers copy through a friend in the industry! The great news is "Thirteen Moons" proves the author is more than a one hit wonder. This is historical fiction at its best, as we follow the first person account of the 19th century frontier life of Will Cooper. Ala "Little Big Man" this is a first person account told by an old man at start of a new century, his life a relic of the past. I loved the opening chapter as the 90 year old, cantankerous Will answers his phone, and in the white noise of this modern marvel he can hear the voice of his lost love Claire.

Will Cooper starts out as an orphan who is sold by his relatives to an "antique gentleman" who puts young Will to work at a remote trading post. Here he comes in contact with the great Cherokee Nation. Will's life blossoms and he has great success and terrible failures as a lawyer, a merchant, and even a state senator. Through all of this his bonds with the Cherokees remains strong and central to the story, he even is made a white chief of the nation. Through the structure of Wills life the story of the Cherokee Nation is told. He bears witness to the heartbreaking removal of the people from their land and the tragic "Trail of Tears." Will fights for the confederacy during the Civil War, and meets many of the iconic figures of the times such as Davey Crockett and Andrew Jackson. Through out his life Will is haunted by the memory of his one true love, Claire, a girl he won in a card game when he was 12. (I am reminded of Gus's Clara from "Lonesome Dove"-I guess we all have our Clara?). This love story is central to the tale and is what binds the story into a cohesive unit. The story does tend to amble at times, but this will not be a problem for those who love Frazier's prose. This is a rich, enthralling, yet in many ways melancholic story of one mans life and times and his one true love. Highly recommended!

The Frontier is a central concept in the American experience. While the most progress was usually made in the crowded cities of the East, the new American spirit, psychology, and perspective were born in the Frontier. Few can tell you much about Robert Fulton or Commodore Vanderbilt, but almost everyone can say something accurate about Davy Crockett.

In recent years, it has become popular to take the exalted view of the Frontier and to turn it into post-Modern ordinariness. Some do that with humor. Others do it by patching together wildly improbable events. I applaud those efforts because they bring balance back into something that has become too much of a myth.

Thirteen Moons is another shift in perspective, but one that's a shift aimed at creating a more normal view of the Frontier . . . one that escaped all but a few who actually lived in the Frontier. It's a perspective that views the Native American experience with the same validity and sympathy as the Frontiersmen's experiences. I found that refreshing.

So what's the story? Will Cooper, an orphan, is sold off as a bound apprentice to a trader and is to serve as the head of a trading post at the edge of the then-independent Cherokee Nation. Cooper's contacts are daily with the Native Americans and very rarely with those who resupply him. Not surprisingly, he grows up with a combined perspective that appreciates what "civilization" brings but honors and is uplifted by the real support he receives from Bear, the chief who adopts him into the tribe.

Cooper honors that relationship, even after the tide turns and the American government evicts the Cherokees. What's the plan? Cooper buys up enough of the unwanted high-altitude land to allow Bear's people to have a home without being moved further West.

But in some ways it's a lonely vigil because Cooper loses the love of his life.

As you read the story, you'll find it jumbled and stilted in places. That's not because Charles Frazier couldn't have told a smoother story, but because Mr. Frazier wanted you to know more about the history of those times than you probably know now. He wants you to know that some Native Americans were plantation owners and slave holders. He also wants you to know that the government didn't play fair with the Native Americans. Further, he wants you to see the senselessness of the sentiment against Native Americans. He also wants you to feel the intensity and challenge of trying to walk in both worlds . . . it cannot quite be done without selling your soul every so often.

If you are willing to be challenged into thinking what you would have done as Will Cooper, you'll adore the book. If you find yourself wanting more to be entertained, you won't like it as much. It'll seem like an average book to you.

The only serious flaw I saw was that the stories of Featherstone and Claire receive more attention than was necessary to accomplish the book's apparent purpose. As such, they distract and slow down what could have been a more compact, intense, and challenging book.

But if you are open to seeing the Frontier in a new way, you should read this book. It'll expand your horizons.

An American saga. Will Cooper looks back on his life and reflects on his reluctance to accept "modern ways". Will, an orphan at 12, becomes "bound" to a store owner and is sent off from his home to run a trading post in a remote community of Indians (with a few rag-tag white folks) He wins a girl at a card game - and he continually longs for her to be his. Chief Bear adopts him as a member of the Cherokee tribe, he takes part in the Civil War and eventually becomes a member of the senate.

Some brilliant evocative scenes, such as his time in the wilderness trying to survive and find his way to the store and the actual running of the store. His description of how the Indian tribes were forced out of their homelands is particularly harrowing.

The language is a bit flowery in parts but the whole story is told with warmth and affection for a lost world.