Story inspired by life of the author's great grandfather, a Black Cowboy who kidnapped his Native American bride after a cattle drive from Waco, TX to Dodge City, KS. Their story, him a master horseman and her a trained to be a healer with herbs and potions, is a new look at the Old West.
Blessings from the Four Winds is a novel inspired by the life of the author's great-grandfather. The novel opens following him as a young cowboy traveling to join a cattle drive driving a herd from Waco, Texas to Dodge City, Kansas. It is during one of these cattle drives that he happens upon a beautiful Native American-Choctaw girl. Set in 1885, the storyline follows their forbidden courtship and his rivalry with the Chief's son for her hand. In the beginning, the Indian girl rejects all of his amorous attempts to win her affection, until he devises a way for her to consider him as a serious suitor and end the rivalry once and for all. This story contrasts traditions of Native-American, Euro-American, and African-American peoples and has something for every reader – romance, intrigue, action, comedy and spiritual introspect.
Professional Reviews
Reviewed by Vincent Dublado for Readers' Favorite
Syvila Weatherford’s Blessings From The Four Winds is a fictional historical romance adventure inspired by the life of a real person, the author’s great-grandfather. With some creative license taken in naming characters, towns, and places to connect real events, you get a plot that is worthy enough to create a good western story. This story with multiple subplots centers on twenty-year-old Will who joins a cattle drive from Waco to Dodge City. During one of these cattle drives, he stumbles upon a beautiful Native American girl named Niabi who is bathing in a river. This encounter will largely remind you of how John Smith and Pocahontas met. The big difference is that the fancy and lore of Pocahontas’s tale shows John Smith as being good to her. On the other hand, Will, after failing in his chivalrous attempts at wooing Niabi, decides to abduct her as a seal-the-deal strategy.
Syvila Weatherford strives throughout her novel to imagine and justify the relationship between two people that are extreme opposites. Weatherford does her best to explore the hero’s stream of consciousness to justify his actions, most notably about kidnapping the woman he loves--how he anguishes over his actions and his awareness that no law would be understanding of him. Having said that, since Blessings From The Four Winds is inspired by the life of Weatherford’s great-grandfather, it’s a great thing that this is a love story with significant subplots that introduce you to characters in their life and times during the post-Civil War era. Weatherford gives us the gift of sensing the whole picture and the inspiration that she drew from this story was worth it. Readers who love a good western or historical tale will find good company in this book.
Kirkus Review
Debut author Weatherford offers a sprawling tale of adventure set in 1880s Tennessee and Texas.
Will Lawton, an expert horse trainer, lives with his mother, Harriet, and beloved horse Rodeo at Applegate Ranch, a leading horse farm in Tennessee, where his father worked before him. Each year, Will, who’s Black, spends four months working as a cowboy, driving cattle from Texas to Kansas to earn extra money so that he can buy his own farm someday. In 1885, on his fourth such trip, he encounters Niabi, an attractive young Choctaw woman, bathing in the Red River and becomes obsessed with her. The chief’s arrogant son Nashoba is her ardent suitor, but she rejects him, and Will, as well, because she’s training to become a traditional healer and plans never to marry. When Will returns the following year, he shockingly abducts Niabi, which sets in motion a complicated series of events. The novel, which engagingly features a stampede, narrow escapes, and a dramatic rescue, was inspired by the real lives of the author’s great-grandparents, although it’s unclear how much of the narrative is based on real events. Racial tensions are also a major aspect of the work, which takes place just 20 years after the Civil War. However, the prose is often clunky, as when one character is described as having “round-shaped eyes that reek of wisdom,” and another’s “eyebrows jump with expressions.” Some of the details and dialogue seem anachronistic, as when a preacher’s daughter wears bright red lipstick, which was generally considered scandalous until the early 20th century. The author also provides unnecessarily detailed explanations of such ordinary things as a triangle used as a dinner bell, a Sunday church service, and place settings at a table.
An action-packed but flawed historical drama.
Goodreads reader
I found it to be a novel where as I got further and further pages in, the harder it was to put down. I found the characters genuine and heart-warming. Humor, drama and adventure were sprinkled in throughout. I would highly recommend as an entertaining read.
In this collection of Western fiction, I’ve endeavored to bring the reader a little laughter at the expense of my characters, even though they are at times engaged in life threatening adventures. Learn to say something nice to all of your enemies l
An adventure-filled time-travel western. Given a 5-star editorial review in 2020 by the InD'tale Magazine. "The weaving in of actual historical connections between the characters is fascinating. Fans of this genre will love the originality with the a
