Review by aacodreanu -- Strong Heart by Charlie Sheldon
Posted: 17 Feb 2020, 12:24
[Following is a volunteer review of "Strong Heart" by Charlie Sheldon.]
Charlie Sheldon published Strong Heart in 2016, which would be about sixty-five thousand years after part of the book’s events happened. Amazing, isn’t it? The writer demonstrates a theory of the origins of native Americans, using fiction to convey his opinion. It is the best way to draw attention, in my opinion, at least in the world of historical fiction readers. It is fiction but, at the same time, there are maps in the beginning and an important part of the book describes solid facts of navigation, climate, and geography as experienced by presumed ancestors of present-day Native Americans in the Olympic Mountains, on the Pacific coast.
As Charlie Sheldon’s background is in Wildlife Biology and Resource Management, and his working life has included being a fisherman off New England, working for seaports, being involved in habitat cleanup projects and working with Puget Sound Tribes to reduce tribal fishing conflicts, as well as working on ships as an Ordinary Seaman, Able Bodied Seaman, and Bosun, the facts and places he describes in the book are documented first hand and bear the imprint of authenticity.
The dedication of the book is lovely, especially the part ”to the contrary girls everywhere”. I noticed it after I had read the book and known that the action evolves around a ”contrary girl”, whose prehistoric name, Strong Heart, also gives the name of the novel. I am looking now at the quote from TS Elliot and realize that in reading the book I made the trip suggested in it, and then I look at the quote from Carl Jung and hope to be able to look inside myself, taking the example of the characters here.
Briefly, Sarah, an orphan girl of 12, shows up at the place of Tom, her grandfather, brought there by her grandmother who has another family and who has also just about learned of the girl’s existence and cannot cope with her less than well-behaved temper. As the grandfather and two Native American friends, William and Myra, father and daughter (a master in anthropology), were about to hike in the Olympic Park to the place where, 45 years before, Tom had buried his grandfather, they decide to take the grand-daughter with them. A difficult journey follows and Sarah gets lost, only to appear after eight days. The story she tells at her return is about a larger timespan spent among primitive people, on a journey by sea. There are incidents with the present-day owners of the patch of land previously owned by Tom’s grandfather, the former intending to mine the land for a mineral, erbium. A precious artifact, an atlatl or spear thrower, supposed to have belonged to the first inhabitants of the place, tens of thousands of years before, becomes an issue as, if proved authentic, it can stop any mining work in the area, to preserve vestiges of the past.
The most developed character is Sarah, or Strong Heart, whose disposition and strong will and perseverance make her prevail in adverse situations, even in her travel in time. Her grandfather has a similar temper, which makes it difficult for them to communicate. Luckily there are the others, mostly peacemaking William. Myra also feels strongly and defends her beliefs related to the origin of the native population in the territory. A romance seems to start between her and Serghei, the latter having come to check Sarah’s story and to take part with the rest in their second hiking trip.
The book has two different points of view. There seem to be two stories intertwined. The first, which takes place in the present, is written in the third person omniscient point of view, the reader receiving objective information about the characters. The second, Sarah’s story, is in the first person: Sarah describes what has happened to her while on her magic trip. The writer’s first concern is facts, so characters are shaped mostly by what they do. One can say that places and weather receive the attention of some true characters and have their say in the developments of the story.
Even if I initially skipped Sarah’s first part of the story, impatient that it took too long, I came back to it after I read the rest of the book, up to the end, and then I enjoyed that part best of all. Perhaps it is my love for the sea, but the description of the voyage was so vivid that I had the feeling I was there and in danger of drowning or of being attacked by wild beasts or by enemy participants in the trip.
At first, I objected to the intruding story, which defied the convention that a story told needs to be interrupted by comments and questions from the audience, but then I understood that there was another convention at work, like in Arabian Nights.
The book will be appreciated by readers who like to find out about faraway places and times, either interested in the history of ancient times or open to be attracted to this scientists’ dispute as to who was the first in the territory, with all the arguments pro, and against both opinions.
The proofreading of the book is almost perfect ( I have found just two mistakes throughout). Therefore, Strong Heart fully deserves four out of four stars, and I hope that many will read it and enjoy the adventures it contains.
******
Strong Heart
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Charlie Sheldon published Strong Heart in 2016, which would be about sixty-five thousand years after part of the book’s events happened. Amazing, isn’t it? The writer demonstrates a theory of the origins of native Americans, using fiction to convey his opinion. It is the best way to draw attention, in my opinion, at least in the world of historical fiction readers. It is fiction but, at the same time, there are maps in the beginning and an important part of the book describes solid facts of navigation, climate, and geography as experienced by presumed ancestors of present-day Native Americans in the Olympic Mountains, on the Pacific coast.
As Charlie Sheldon’s background is in Wildlife Biology and Resource Management, and his working life has included being a fisherman off New England, working for seaports, being involved in habitat cleanup projects and working with Puget Sound Tribes to reduce tribal fishing conflicts, as well as working on ships as an Ordinary Seaman, Able Bodied Seaman, and Bosun, the facts and places he describes in the book are documented first hand and bear the imprint of authenticity.
The dedication of the book is lovely, especially the part ”to the contrary girls everywhere”. I noticed it after I had read the book and known that the action evolves around a ”contrary girl”, whose prehistoric name, Strong Heart, also gives the name of the novel. I am looking now at the quote from TS Elliot and realize that in reading the book I made the trip suggested in it, and then I look at the quote from Carl Jung and hope to be able to look inside myself, taking the example of the characters here.
Briefly, Sarah, an orphan girl of 12, shows up at the place of Tom, her grandfather, brought there by her grandmother who has another family and who has also just about learned of the girl’s existence and cannot cope with her less than well-behaved temper. As the grandfather and two Native American friends, William and Myra, father and daughter (a master in anthropology), were about to hike in the Olympic Park to the place where, 45 years before, Tom had buried his grandfather, they decide to take the grand-daughter with them. A difficult journey follows and Sarah gets lost, only to appear after eight days. The story she tells at her return is about a larger timespan spent among primitive people, on a journey by sea. There are incidents with the present-day owners of the patch of land previously owned by Tom’s grandfather, the former intending to mine the land for a mineral, erbium. A precious artifact, an atlatl or spear thrower, supposed to have belonged to the first inhabitants of the place, tens of thousands of years before, becomes an issue as, if proved authentic, it can stop any mining work in the area, to preserve vestiges of the past.
The most developed character is Sarah, or Strong Heart, whose disposition and strong will and perseverance make her prevail in adverse situations, even in her travel in time. Her grandfather has a similar temper, which makes it difficult for them to communicate. Luckily there are the others, mostly peacemaking William. Myra also feels strongly and defends her beliefs related to the origin of the native population in the territory. A romance seems to start between her and Serghei, the latter having come to check Sarah’s story and to take part with the rest in their second hiking trip.
The book has two different points of view. There seem to be two stories intertwined. The first, which takes place in the present, is written in the third person omniscient point of view, the reader receiving objective information about the characters. The second, Sarah’s story, is in the first person: Sarah describes what has happened to her while on her magic trip. The writer’s first concern is facts, so characters are shaped mostly by what they do. One can say that places and weather receive the attention of some true characters and have their say in the developments of the story.
Even if I initially skipped Sarah’s first part of the story, impatient that it took too long, I came back to it after I read the rest of the book, up to the end, and then I enjoyed that part best of all. Perhaps it is my love for the sea, but the description of the voyage was so vivid that I had the feeling I was there and in danger of drowning or of being attacked by wild beasts or by enemy participants in the trip.
At first, I objected to the intruding story, which defied the convention that a story told needs to be interrupted by comments and questions from the audience, but then I understood that there was another convention at work, like in Arabian Nights.
The book will be appreciated by readers who like to find out about faraway places and times, either interested in the history of ancient times or open to be attracted to this scientists’ dispute as to who was the first in the territory, with all the arguments pro, and against both opinions.
The proofreading of the book is almost perfect ( I have found just two mistakes throughout). Therefore, Strong Heart fully deserves four out of four stars, and I hope that many will read it and enjoy the adventures it contains.
******
Strong Heart
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon