Crow Mary

A Novel

By: Kathleen Grissom

Narrated by: Carolina Hoyos

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

Wonderful

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

Please write more novels!!!

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

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

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). 🤗

amazing true story

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

Excellent history of Native Americans

In the style of her other two books, this author is a magnificent weaver of stories. We hear in the forward that this is definitely historical fiction as the great granddaughter of the main character gives her message. I always learn history best through a story, because isn’t that what it’s all about? As you learn about the magnificent Crow people, you also learn about the other tribes that they interacted with, as well as how the changes in our country moving forward with “modern” times affected these people profoundly and adversely. Superb story, superb narration. Highly recommend.

Flawless storytelling of a Native girl in a tough strange world.

I absolutely love this book, and this author. absolutely amazing job with each historical fiction. she works with the family to share their story in a beautiful way. sticking as much to the fax as possible while making it into a novel. it's very hard to stop reading this book is the only problem.
I respect Crow Mary. I can't get enough of this author, and I'm going to read the sequel to The Kitchen house since the book came in today. the very day that I finished this book. yay!

Extraordinary!

What a fantastic story. The author did a great job, capturing both the white and Crow perspectives. The woman who read the novel was terrific. I highly recommend this!!

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

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

So goooood

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.

Good story

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