The US history does not date back long like Rome’s or Great Britain’s, but it is nevertheless full of tragic and bloody events. When white people came to the North America populated by Indians, the process of their accomodation was far from peaceful. There were victims – one of them Cynthia Ann Parker, the main character of Carolyn Meyer’s novel “Where the broken heart still beats: The story of Cynthia Ann Parker“.
During the long break I had from “young adult” and history books in English, I really missed Carolyn Meyer’s style. Her descriptions are very detailed and accurate, the character’s feelings are sincere, the writing is clear and a bit naive which makes it good for English learners and true to life as real people did not talk like Middle Ages’ scholars.
The book about Cynthia Ann Parker does not cheer the reader though. Her fate was truly remarkable. Kidnapped by Indians as a child, she lived with them for more than twenty years, learned their ways and most important, she learned to live up to THEIR principles. When she was brought back to her relatives, she was not a white Christian woman, but a NERM (a name The People – the tribe Cynthia Ann lived with – called themselves). Being with white people required great patience and courage. Unlike the characters of fantasy stories, and though stronger than the majority of white women, Cynthia Ann did not win wars, or walked through great distance to return to “her” people. She just waited, did the female chores and tried to survive. Cynthia Ann hoped that her daughter Topsannah (Prairie Flower) will return to where she belongs. Alas! Her hopes died vain.
I do not think each person who changed their life and language would accept the new notions as their own. Looks like Cynthia Ann’s personality was in harmony with the Comanche way of life. I do not know if there really was a person who could understand and symphatize that, but the author gave Cynthia Ann a wonderful companion – her cousin Lucy Parker. It was Lucy who kept the records of the family life while Cynthia Ann lived with them. Cynthia Ann’s voice is also heard when she tries to resolve her moral dilemma (how can she love people who killed almost all her family?) and desperately fails.
Also I cannot keep from mentioning that as a Tarot reader, I came across several decks which use the Red People’s symbolism. The book by Carolyn Meyer shows the difference of Comanche’s ways from our usual routine. Even without cell phones, computers and planes, the lives of white people and Indian tribes went different directions. The book contains the nicest and easiest description of “vision quest” I ever read about. I was sorry to learn of Cynthia Ann Parker, but would recommend the book to anybody willing to read the “young adult” prose.
My Book Castle 