History and fiction merge seamlessly in this thrilling historical novel based on one of America's greatest unsolved mysteries. Lewis and Clark's last journey is a classic story of honor, vengeance, and redemption.
St. Louis, 1809. Three years after the triumphal return of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, Meriwether Lewis never felt less like a hero. Trapped in a thankless political job, he’s drinking too much and spending money like there’s no tomorrow. When he’s called to a mysterious meeting, Lewis hopes for a new adventure that will turn his life around. Instead, he finds himself drawn into a conspiracy to put him and William Clark at the head of a new American empire.
HOW FAR WOULD YOU GO?
Lewis has his faults, but he’s no traitor ... and suddenly Lewis the explorer becomes the hunted. As for
Clark, he’s willing to risk everything to save his best friend from dishonor and disgrace. In the end, neither man can imagine the price to pay for their loyalty to each other and to their country.
from Library Journal
By October 1809, Meriwether Lewis was a man in trouble. A national hero along with friend and co-captain William Clark after his return from the Pacific Expedition in 1806, he should have been well placed for future greatness. But beset by backbiting subordinates and the plotting of Gen. James Wilkinson, he descended into alcoholism, disease, and possibly madness.
Lewis set out in September to journey to Federal City (then the name of Washington, DC) and died mysteriously en route, about 50 miles from Memphis. Learning his friend was in trouble, Will Clark tried to help but came too late. Was Lewis murdered by Wilkinson's agents?
First-time novelist Hunter spins an imaginative tale of what might have happened during the last month of Lewis's life that is authentic in detail and shows both the flaws and the virtues of these legends of American history.
Only one thing bothered this reviewer: Hunter couldn't decide whether Lewis and Clark, supposedly two of the greatest friends in American history, were on a first-name basis.
This quibble aside, the book is highly recommended for all historical fiction collections.[This first offering from Blind Rabbit Press coincides with the 200th anniversary of Louis and Clark's return to St. Louis. Ed.] Ken St. Andre, Phoenix P.L. Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.
from Midwest Book Review
Frances Hunter is a pen name for two sisters, Liz and Mary Clare, who wrote "To The Ends of The Earth: The Last Journey of Lewis & Clark" together. It deals with the course of the relationship between Lewis and Clark and the mysterious death of Lewis in 1809, shot in a lonely inn on the Natchez Trace. Timed for release on September 23, 2006, "To The Ends of The Earth" will mark the end of the Lewis and Clark Bicentennial. "To the Ends of The Earth" is both a historical novel and a gripping mystery.
It begins where the great expedition of 1803-1806 ends, with Lewis and Clark receiving kudos, fame, and political appointments. Lewis is appointed governor of Louisiana Territory, a virtual kingdom in size, and Clark becomes the Indian superintendent and militia general for the Louisiana Territory. Life in St. Louis, the center from which they operate, is colorful and unregulated in the extreme. While Clark, the more stable of the two, manages to marry well and begin to court financial success, Lewis finds the reality of post-Expedition fame less than palatable, and he sinks into a frightening disintegration of mental illness and alcoholism. The story turns on the relationship between Clark and Lewis, and also the relationship between Clark and York, his companion and slave since childhood.
"To the Ends of the Earth" is full of gritty historical detail and raw imagery that rings true across the years. "To The Ends of The Earth" is historical fiction at its best, pulling the reader in and re-engaging the mind and imagination in the drama that occurred 200 years ago.
from Western Writers of America
Untangling the mysterious death of one of history's most celebrated explorers, Meriwether Lewis, has occupied historians since the Voyage of Discovery. Frances Hunter's stunning, award-winning novel, To the Ends of the Earth, combines meticulous research with a fast-paced narrative based on intriguing speculation into the motives of durable historical characters. Meriwether Lewis, William Clark, and James Wilkinson come to life in this extremely skillful novel as Lewis sets off to deliver to President Thomas Jefferson all the material gathered on his and Clark's seminal voyage. A collection of rogues, some working at cross-purposes, are bent on stopping him.
Parallel to the reader's anxiety for Lewis's safety is a developing dread that the precious documents of Lewis and Clark's historic exploration will be lost forever. Realistically, one knows for a fact they were preserved, but Hunter achieves that elusive goal for all novelists--that the reader suspends disbelief. Hunter teases the reader with the implications of the destruction of the entire collection of papers.
WWA members should take note of Hunter's fine technique for creating compelling historical fiction without research paralyzing the story. To the Ends of the Earth lends an incredible sense of authenticity to characters and circumstances; readers will be convinced just such words were spoken and every scene actually occurred.
To the Ends of the Earth won the Writers' League of Texas 2007 Violet Crown Award and a silver medal for historical fiction in the 2007 Independent Publisher "IPPY" Book Awards.
