Category: Native American Publisher: Publish America
ISBN-10: 1413703798
Type: Fiction
Pages: 220
A young kidnapped Indian girl gradually finds her true identity through a series of supernatural experiences.
Cilla's conscious mind has long forgotten her true identity as Wild Rose, daughter of tribal healer John Elk and his mate, Pretty Moon, but the Cherokee Guardians assigned to her at birth have never let her go. Whether it's a feather dropped at her feet, a mysterious healing, or a trip through a tunnel of magnificient light, Cilla is consistently given signs that lead her to the Path Great Spirit marked for her when she left the Blue Road of Sky. Consciously she cannot know that the man she calls Uncle John is one of a band of thieves that kidnapped her from her parents' village or that the woman she calls "Mama" isn't really related to her. Only through faiyh in the power of a spiritual world few Anglos know does she finally discover the true meaning of family, and the knowledge she carries in her heart.
Excerpt
John Elk knelt by the crackling fire, constructing an image of Toni's wellness in his mind. Then, with his thoughts singularly directed at her healing, he carefully dedicated the fire stones...
Professional Reviews
Great story!
By Mitch Traphagen
There is an easy test to see if someone is listening, to find out if the story you tell is interesting. While telling a story, simply stop in the middle of it. If no one asks, "So what happened next?" then you can be sure no one was listening.
While reading "Where the Wild Rose Grows" by Penny Fletcher, I had to stop in the middle to photographs a few events. I left wondering what will happen next. In fact, I couldn't wait to get back to the book to find out.
Where the Wild Rose Grows is a story of a gifted young woman growing up in a difficult, actually tragic time. Fletcher skillfully opens a door in the pages of her book allowing the reader to come inside. Without resorting to gimmicks, she allows the reader to vividly experience both the sadness and joy of a setting that for some is not purely fiction. The imagery is finally crafted and the story unfolds in the mind of the reader rather than simply on the printed page.
Despite never having personally experienced it, I was able to feel only too well the desolation and, for many at least, the loss of hope created by the abject poverty of her 1960s rural Tennessee setting. And despite what seemed to be an utterly hopeless situation, the reader is never left to feel hopeless. Throughout the book, the reader is allowed to hold on to a strong sense of goodness and hope that transcends the story.
In terms of the story, it is good. Actually, it is excellent. There is enough detail to allow the reader to feel they know the characters, both good and bad, yet one is never mired down by an overabundance of minutiae.
Just wow-
This book was extremely interesting. The story of Cilla and her journey in discovering herself is well written and captivating. The fact that she is touched by the spiritual world as well kept me hooked. You wont be able to put this book down.
Loved it
Format: Paperback
I really loved this story... It spoke to me in many ways, not the least of which was Ms. Fletcher's writing. It began in 1960. Funny, for me, that doesn't seem long ago and, what was striking was that it opened into a scene that, perhaps, really would have more naturally occurred one hundred years before that...
John Elk was in the midst of a healing. The white woman had been brought because the white man's medicine was not strong enough. John Elk had no problem in using his gift from the Great Spirit for all... But in the midst of that activity, another was started. Two white men rode into the camp--to kill, to steal, and to seek babies they could later sell. Wild Rose was one of those children. She was four when taken--this is her story.
By 1968, Priscilla (Cilla) was living with a woman she considered her stepmother, along with her two children. Like Cinderella, as the oldest, Cilla was made to do most of the work and care for the two little girls. But Cilla had grown to love them as sisters and had even begun to steal in order to ensure the little girls had something to eat.
Rayline was an alcoholic who worked in bars and then later partied there. While the children slept on a bare mattress in a corner of a kitchen, Rayline would share her bed with the latest man she met. Sometimes her ex-husband, who had first stolen Cilla and brought her there, would come to visit. If a man was already there, he would sleep on the couch. He was the father of the two little girls and was grateful for Cilla's care. But he would soon leave to continue his life of thievery.
Cilla was in school, but her mother had made it quite clear that Cilla was never to tell anybody about where and how it was at home. No friends were ever to be invited.Read more ›
The drug called "The Shari" has been used for vision quests over many years. But, when all the rivers start drying up, the tribe must send a young hunter named Tomás on a much more important trip through the Amazon.
The drug called "The Shari" has been used for vision quests over many years. But, when all the rivers start drying up, the tribe must send a young hunter named Tomás on a much more important trip through the Amazon.
The drug called "The Shari" has been used for vision quests over many years. But, when all the rivers start drying up, the tribe must send a young hunter named Tomás on a much more important trip through the Amazon.
