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It is 1877 and seventeen-year-old Emma Jorden has lost her parents to cholera. Far from civilization, Emma realizes that she cannot survive by herself in her family's sod house. She decides to walk twenty miles to a trading post and winter there. A blinding prairie blizzard causes Emma to lose her bearings and she wanders in the opposite direction. Exhausted and cold, she lies down and sleeps in the snow. She is rescued by Shea Hawkshadow, a half-breed Cheyenne Indian, who insists that travel to the trading post is impossible. Shea brings her to the Cheyenne Agency where he lives and installs her in the lodge of Red Leaf Woman, a widow.
Shea Hawkshadow, whose father was white, is an orphan. The women of his tribe reject him as a husband because they believe that his white blood taints the blood of his Cheyenne ancestors.
After an unsuccessful attempt to escape, Emma is constantly watched. Continued weeks of snow storms make her realize that she must remain in the Indian camp for the winter. She begins to learn their ways, and even some of their language. When Shea asks Emma to teach him to read and write, their regular evenings together draw them closer. Shea and Emma marry and struggle with prejudice, personality changes, hatred, and attempted murder. Emma becomes emotionally fragile and suffers a nervous breakdown.
The Bend in the River is well written, with interesting characters. Gibbs has evidently done extensive research and the book contains rich historical details. Frequent point of view shifts were distracting, but I enjoyed the story in spite of them. I identified with Emma and felt her pain in her struggles to survive. I'm looking forward to more work by Susan Gibbs.
Reviewed by Marie DisBrow
for The Road to Romance
December 31, 2004
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