the journal of Margaret Kelly, a woman who participated in the government's "Brides for Indians" program in 1873, a program whose conceit was that the way to peace between the United States and the Cheyenne Nation was for One Thousand White Women to be given as brides in exchange for three hundred horses. These "brides" were mostly fallen women; women in prison, prostitutes, the occasional adventurer, or those incarcerated in asylums. No one expected this program to work. The brides themselves thought it was simply a chance at freedom. But many of them fell in love with the Cheyennes spouses and had children with them...and became Cheyenne themselves.

The Vengeance Of Mothers is a novel that explores what happens to the bonds between wives and husbands, children and mothers, when society sees them as "unspeakable." What does it mean to be white, to be Cheyenne, and how far will these women go to avenge the ones they love? As he did in One Thousand White Women, Jim Fergus brings to light a time and place in American history, and fills it with unforgettable characters who live and breathe with a passion we can relate to even today.

Make sure you read One Thousand WHite Women first as this is a sequel There is a lot of controversy evidently regarding the "history" on which these two books are presented. whether or not there was such a bride program (which sounds ridiculous - however how we treated Natvie Americans then was also ridiculous), it still makes for an interesting read. It just ended abruptly for me and I wanted a bit more. Still a good read.

Our book club was delighted to receive this book as a giveaway, however, most of us were pretty disappointed in the content. Although the author had a a beautiful way with words in describing the landscape or characters, many members were not impressed with the amount of profanity and sexual content. In addition, the book seemed to have too much conversation and not enough suspense or action. Guess it wasn’t up to our expectations based on the description of the book that was given.