Book Blurb:
2024 WINNER of the NAIWE Award for Genre (Historical Fiction)
In one of history's great untold stories Red Clay Running Waters weaves a tapestry of the turbulent Antebellum era and the fate of Native Americans through the little-known life of John Ridge, a Cherokee man dedicated to his people, and his white wife, Sarah Northrop, a woman forfeiting everything to join him in defending his homeland.
In 1818, John Ridge, promising son of a Cherokee chief, leaves his native land in the south for an education in the New England, believing in the missionaries promises of salvation and equality. His ability to navigate both worlds - Red and White - far exceeds his teacher's expectations. While there, he finds an unsanctioned love that transcends prejudice and social conventions, but the union outrages the Calvinist community.
Wiser on the chasm between professed beliefs and behavior, John and Sarah return to his nation, instilled with visions of the better world they can help build. In an independent Cherokee Nation, John burns to use what he has learned to defend his people's rights in support of their growing advancement, with their own written language, laws, and newspaper. In her new home, Sarah finds friendship and purpose with her family and the growing communities of schools and prosperous plantations.
The Ridges' aspirations appear within reach, but then unanticipated actions from the neighboring state of Georgia raise tensions between the Cherokee, the Southern states, and the federal government under Andrew Jackson.
With John taking the mantle of leadership forged with his father, Major Ridge, the family find themselves pulled into the crossfire of a divided country on the brink with a civil war, and threatening to drag America into a moral and Constitutional crisis. Trapped in a cycle of oppression and betrayal, the Ridge's abiding love for their nation unite them in purpose, forcing them to risk everything and testing the limits of their individual commitment to forestall a Cherokee diaspora.
In a crucible of politics, racism, and religion. Red Clay Running Waters is a timely saga about the nature of love, loyalty, and sacrifice in one family's search for justice that leads the reader to a haunting and moving conclusion.
AWA Hawthrone Prize for Fiction - Finalist
Feathered Quill Book Awards - Finalist Historical Fiction
American Writing Awards - Finalist Historical Fiction
CIBA Laramie Awards (Americana Fiction) - Finalist
Eric Hoffer Da Vinci Eye Award (cover design) - Finalist
"An immersive and engaging story . . . a consistently enjoyable literary experience." - Kirkus Review
". . . the creation of something sweeping yet intimate, historically accurate yet reflective of current issues, and, through it all, written with precision, grace and lyrical elegance. This is a splendid, splendid work." Greg Fields - Author of Through the Waters and the Wild
"An extraordinary achievement. Red Clay, Running Waters is an old-fashioned novel in the best sense: rich in its portraiture and heartbreakingly true to history." Jodi Daynard - Author of The Midwife's Revolt
"The true-life saga of the Ridge family--the most dramatic, tragic, as yet untold story of America's conflict with first nation's people... I don't know a more powerful American story that reveals more of who we are, and how far we must travel to heal from our troubled past." David Marion Wilkerson - Author of Oblivions Altar
"...A fabulous example of the [Historical Fiction] genre - very well-written and really interesting [with] well-developed characters who drew me in . . . ... an engaging story that held my attention throughout...I loved it!" - Feathered Quill Book Awards judges
Book Buy Link: https://geni.us/A6gKUu
Author Bio:
Leslie K Simmons writes about people at the center of defining moments in the American past, using the power of Historical Fiction to illuminate and reveal how a past we didn’t live shapes the lives we live today. After decades of research, Leslie followed a path marked by serendipities to the story she knew she had to write, her debut novel, RED CLAY, RUNNING WATERS.
After decades working in jobs ranging from the factory floor, to the Video Game business, multinational companies, and the halls of Government, the story of the lives of John and Sarah Ridge and the Trial of Tears took center stage. It was in crafting this story her years doing research, communications and writing were turned towards a story that begged to be told.
Leslie has taught a course on Native Americans of the Southeast, restored two 19th Century houses (one award winning), and holds a degree in Anthropology and Art from the University of Arkansas. She has been a member of the Trail of Tears Association since 1999, belongs to the Women's Fiction Writers Association, and the Historical Novel Society. She is also a contributing moderator for the American Historical Novels Facebook group.
Editorial Review:
Fayetteville, Arkansas, March 1856
IN ANOTHER HOUR, perhaps two, her life would finish. Death was of little consequence to Sarah, except for the parting. Now, her fevered frame shivered in her bed.
Sleet hissed against her bedroom windowpane; sap-filled logs whined, burning in the hearth. False spring had deceived her; a mockingbird’s song, mimicking others, lured her outside too soon. Had she opened her eyes to look out her window she would have seen a steel-gray afternoon, battered blossoms on the trees, and Miss Sawyer’s school through the budding branches. She preferred to keep her eyes closed. In that darkness she saw what she wanted to see: John’s radiant face when he returned to her, the grand white house on the hill, dark faces round campfires, infants in her arms. Unbidden, her father’s weeping face came to her.
Red Clay, Running Waters by Leslie K. Simmons is a superb work of historical fiction that immerses the reader in the violent and transformative years leading up to the Trail of Tears. This wide yet intimate novel portrays the dramatic and sad true story of John Ridge, a Cherokee chieftain, and his white wife, Sarah Northrop Ridge, as they navigate love, politics, and treachery during one of the darkest chapters of American history.
Simmons' poetic and vivid style captivates from the first few sentences. The first few words of the book take readers back to 1824, when the youthful and aspirational John Ridge is ready to provide for his people after returning home from his study in New England. He is committed to demonstrating, with Sarah by his side, that the Cherokee Nation can remain an autonomous and sovereign people in spite of the escalating hostilities between Native American tribes and the US government. The plot soon turns into an engrossing, agonizing, and motivational tale.
Simmons is a brilliant storyteller who skillfully blends historical veracity with an intensely emotional and personal narrative. The novel realistically depicts historical events via the viewpoints of its well-developed characters rather than just retelling them.
John Ridge is portrayed as a man torn between two worlds - his Cherokee heritage and the white civilization he has adapted into - while Sarah is seen as a strong, determined woman who leaves her New England home to embrace a culture that is foreign but strongly tied to her husband's identity. In addition to being delicate, their love story is complicated by issues of loyalty, ethnicity, and identity.
John sat back against the headboard, no longer slumped against the pillows, his quill in hand and the unfolded writing desk on his lap. The rattle of dishes outside his door told him hours had passed since his friends departed and his supper had arrived.
“Will you read it back to me?” he said, not looking up from his work.
“Of course,” Sarah’s voice replied, startling him. He had expected her mother. “But your hands must be washed first,” she said, handing him a damp rag to wipe away the ink.
She set the tray down, taking a seat beside his bed. He handed the page over to her.
Character development is one of the book's strongest points. Because of their subtlety and depth, John and Sarah Ridge seem remarkably real. Their story is made more heartbreaking by Simmons's unapologetically honest portrayal of their shortcomings, anxieties, and problems. The story is made more difficult by the supporting cast, which includes John Ross, the strong and contentious Cherokee chief, and Major Ridge, John's father. These individuals are essential to the political and emotional conflicts that propel the narrative; they are not merely historical anecdotes.
High-quality editing and formatting provide a seamless reading experience. The novel's structure enables the plot to develop at a consistent and captivating rate. Readers are given a thorough grasp of the era without being overloaded with information because of the smooth integration of flashbacks and historical background into the main story. The conversation is appropriate for the time and flows naturally, which adds to the novel's authenticity.
Simmons is also excellent at continuity. The reader is kept interested throughout by the seamless transitions between political developments and personal hardships. The heroes' individual adventures are intricately interwoven with the historical backdrop, which encompasses the betrayal of the Treaty of New Echota, the Indian Removal issue, and Andrew Jackson's political intrigue. A foreseeable yet heartbreaking conclusion results from the tension that grows as John Ridge and his family are forced to make difficult choices.
With Henry dispatched with the carriage for Sarah, John’s course of action was clear. Once the missionaries knew the worst, the burden of decision making would be in their hands.
The red dust of the parched roads covered him by the time he arrived at David Vann’s to give him the news. The house John once frequented now had two mistresses, along with a substantial improvement in size. David’s wives pointed John toward the pond in the distance where they said their husband hunted. Tying his horse to the post, John crossed the field to the water’s edge, treading softly as he had been taught.
The pond was golden glass in the afternoon sunlight, only the expanding circles of fish gasps and ripples of webbed feet disturbing the calm. David crouched, silent among the rushes, his arms lifting the blow gun in one smooth motion to his lips. His cheeks ballooned, then deflated, forcing the tufted dart from his weapon, and into the plump breast of the fowl. Frantic flapping and squawking briefly turned the water turbulent.
A satisfying finish, whether happy or tragic, is necessary in historical fiction, which Red Clay, Running Waters delivers. While the conclusion is extremely poignant and devastating, it is also a fitting monument to the tenacity and sacrifices of the Ridge family. Although the reader is left with a great sense of loss, the last chapters also inspire admiration for the bravery and dignity with which John and Sarah Ridge confronted their fate.
Simmons provides a unique perspective by concentrating on the Ridges, a family divided between two worlds and eventually deceived by the very government they hoped to cooperate with, even though many works focus on the Trail of Tears. Anyone interested in Native American history, early American politics, or historical fiction that departs from conventional tales should read this book because of its unique point of view. This is the novel's distinctive feature.
Simmons is an accomplished author. Her style is elegant yet approachable, and her details are striking without being overdone. She creates a story that is both amusing and educational by balancing historical accuracy with emotional depth. From the optimistic early years of John and Sarah's marriage to the terrible circumstances that finally caused their breakup, the story arc is masterfully written. The novel is both intellectually and emotionally captivating since every scene and relationship feels deliberate.
Red Clay, Running Waters is an outstanding piece of historical fiction. Leslie K. Simmons's book, which illuminates a significant period in American history, is both enjoyable and significant since it is told through the prism of her intensely personal experiences. This book's deep understanding of the difficulties of justice, identity, and love will linger with readers for a long time despite its melancholy. Highly recommended for readers who enjoy well-written, emotionally complex works, historical fiction enthusiasts, and those who are interested in Native American history.
5 stars from the Historical Fiction Company and the "Highly Recommended" award of excellence
AWARD:
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