Scarlet Plume

If you're looking for a wonderful romance full of passion and wondrous views on the Dakota Indians and their ways of life with a pinch of danger and horrifying depictions of suffering on both ends of the war, this is your book If you're looking for a simple yet tasteful depiction of the struggles of the Dakotas and the Whites interlaced with a good and believable romance to unfold in non graphic depictions, this is not the book you want. The writing in itself is incredible and depicts the details and weaves a tale that sucks you in. However, I wish I had known that it would have graphic themes such as rape and detailed depictions of violence. I know it most likely happened in real history but I'm not the person to sit down to read a full paragraph about a woman getting her stomach slit open and her fetus getting impaled on a branch. Reading that made me sick, it wasn't what I was looking for at all when I ordered it. I was hoping for a book with the struggles of the Whites and the Indians, a story in history, but having it be appropriate for a younger audience and not like I stumbled on my mother's romance novels. It's not trashy at all but it's too graphic and specific for me, I just feel sick after reading some paragraphs and had to stop. I wish I had done a little more research about what the book held before ordering it and I wish there had been a sufficient warning beforehand. I hope this review helps in deciding whether to get this book or not.

This was without a doubt the best book I've ever read. I could not put this book down and read it in one day. The book is very descriptive and well written. I highly recommend this book.

I first read this book a number of years ago. I've re-read it now, about five times. It never fails to break my heart.

I have been reading loads of books on Indians and whites. Lots of them I enjoy. This one I could not put down. I ordered all of Manfred's other books - those that I could - since they are hard to get. You will not regret this book. I recommend it highly! And actually, I hate this day and age --- I would have been much happier as Judith. Carol King - not the singer - East Fallowfield, Pa.

Although the time prohibited a romance between an American Indian and a white woman, the author made the concept believable and sympathetic. Well written with graphic descriptions. A real page-turner.