Crow Mary Audiobook By Kathleen Grissom cover art

Crow Mary

A Novel

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Crow Mary

By: Kathleen Grissom
Narrated by: Carolina Hoyos
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The New York Times bestselling author of the book club classics The Kitchen House and Glory Over Everything returns with a sweeping and “richly detailed story of a woman caught between two cultures” (Sandra Dallas, New York Times bestselling author) inspired by the real life of Crow Mary—an Indigenous woman in 19th-century North America.

In 1872, sixteen-year-old Goes First, a Crow Native woman, marries Abe Farwell, a white fur trader. He gives her the name Mary, and they set off on the long trip to his trading post in Saskatchewan, Canada. Along the way, she finds a fast friend in a Métis named Jeannie; makes a lifelong enemy in a wolfer named Stiller; and despite learning a dark secret of Farwell’s past, falls in love with her husband.

The winter trading season passes peacefully. Then, on the eve of their return to Montana, a group of drunken whiskey traders slaughters forty Nakota—despite Farwell’s efforts to stop them. Mary, hiding from the hail of bullets, sees the murderers, including Stiller, take five Nakota women back to their fort. She begs Farwell to save them, and when he refuses, Mary takes two guns, creeps into the fort, and saves the women from certain death. Thus, she sets off a whirlwind of colliding cultures that brings out the worst and best in the cast of unforgettable characters and pushes the love between Farwell and Crow Mary to the breaking point.

From “a tremendously gifted storyteller” (Jim Fergus, author of The Vengeance of Mothers), Crow Mary is a “tender, compelling, and profoundly educational and satisfying read” (Sadeqa Johnson, author of The Yellow Wife) that sweeps across decades, showcasing the beauty of the natural world, while at the same time probing the intimacies of a marriage and one woman’s heart.©2022 Kathleen Grissom (P)2022 Simon & Schuster Audio Biographical Fiction Fiction Genre Fiction World Literature Marriage Native American Biography Feel-Good Heartfelt Inspiring Tearjerking
Captivating Historical Fiction • Compelling Native Perspective • Excellent Narration • Strong Female Protagonist
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“My husband gives orders to white men, I am Crow.”

In this story we get to see American History through the eyes of a native.
The point in history where Natives have been forced to give up their lands, and pushed further and further west across America into reservations.

It’s based on a real woman named Goes First who married a white trader she didn’t know to help her family obtain weapons. We follow her life and get to see what life was like for a woman like her in the 1800’s.

This really was an amazing life story and I hope her actions in the massacre chapter were true, how bad azz.

Remarkable life story of a native woman

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The beautiful recounting of a very brave woman and the disturbing acts of cruelty against our Native Americans.

History remembered and mourned

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I could not read this novel fast enough (and was then so disappointed when the novel ended). I WANT MORE!

Crow Mary…what a strong, brave, accomplished woman. She could hunt, shoot and ride a horse better than most men. I’m sure there were many more just like Mary that we will never know about. These Native American women were divided between the world they knew and the new world of the white man. They had to learn to adapt to if they chose to marry a white man. They were essentially trapped between the two worlds with one foot on each side. The Native American women had even fewer rights than a white woman, and back then, the white woman had precious few rights. If they were lucky, they had a supportive husband. If they were not lucky, they had a life of hardship work and little else.

Crow Mary was a rarity. She remained a proud Crow woman. She learned to speak up to her husband, who before he began drinking, wanted so much to make her happy, would do just about anything for her and would let her have her way in most things.

But several years after Crow Mary and Farwell married, things went bad for Farwell, and soon he began drinking hard. He became someone Mary didn’t know anymore. Farwell cared less about what SHE wanted and began asserting his own will over hers. When it came to their three children he more and more wanted them raised and educated in the white man’s ways instead of the Crow’s way, which was once fine with him. The more he drank, the greater the distance between Crow Mary and her husband grew.

Over the years, the White Man took more and more of the land that once belonged to the native Crow people. The movements of the Crow were restricted, the buffalo, deer and elk that was once so plentiful to the People that kept them alive became so scarce, that the People had to soon accept handouts from the White man.

In the time that Crow Mary remained with her husband, her grandfather visited most winters. Crow Mary longed to take her children, leave her husband and return to her family. Her husband Farwell knew his wife was becoming increasingly unhappy with him because of his drinking and eventually told her SHE could leave any time she wanted, but HIS children would remain with him. Mary knew she could never leave her children, so she remained trapped, just as surely as the rest of the Crow were trapped. Crow Mary remained with Farwell for almost 20 years. For approximately 15 of those years she was unhappy and yearned to return to her family and the way of life she had always known. She wanted to raise her children in that way of life. But, since she couldn’t leave with her children, she did her best to teach her children all she could of the Crow ways. It was essentially today’s version of being “bilingual,” but it was about so much more than language. She taught her children about the old ways, the stories, the songs, the traditions, how to hunt, how to make clothing in the traditional way of the People as best she could within the restrictive environment of the White man.

I so wish there were more to this story! I want to know more about what happened to Crow Mary, her children and all the Crow people after Farwell died and after Crow Mary sold the ranch her husband built before he became such a drunkard and such a disappointment to his family. (I know there are plenty of historically accurate books I can read to learn about the native Crow in general, but I want to know more specifically about THIS family).

Did Susie ever return to her family? What happened to Crow Mary and her children after they sold the ranch and claimed their property on the land the government “gave” the Crow people? Did Bud and Ella remain with the People as they became adults? Did Crow Mary ever see her dear friend Jeannie again?

I want the author to write a sequel to this FANTASTIC novel! Not only will I immediately begin reading this book again in its entirety the second I submit this review, but this novel has inspired me to do some reading on the history of the Crow people so that I may know more about this peaceful people.

I can’t express how much I enjoyed this book. I would like to explore other work by this author. The narrator did an excellent job as well.

If there were any one (small) thing I would have like to be different, I would have liked to have heard more of an authentic Native American accent throughout the book (this wish takes nothing away from the narrator’s work — she was still wonderful). 🤗

CROW MARY — WOW!!! WHAT A FANTASTIC NOVEL!

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Another wonderfully written book by Kathleen Grissom about the slaughter of the native people who we owe everything

Wonderful

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I enjoyed this novel so much and never wanted it to end. It was well written.

Please write more novels!!!

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Excellent narrative. Fantastic story line of a woman who brave and willing and able to stand up for herself and those she loves.

amazing true story

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Such a beautiful story and beautifully written. Both author and storyteller excellent. I feel satisfied yet a loss at its ending.

One of the best Native American Novels I’ve read.

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Perhaps started out a little slow for me but it was still very engaging. The Narration was excellent and the change of voices was so very well done -I don’t think I’ve ever listened to a better narration. Story was captivating and well done.

So goooood

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Writing has too many he said she said, sort of amateur style and choppy. Story is good but ending just ok.

Good story

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Great Read. Crow Mary was a strong woman she managed to live her life her way. Great book.

Crow Mary

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