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Ned Giles, a teenager who is orphaned when his father commits suicide during the Great Depression heads West hoping to start a new adventure. Ned joins the 1932 Great Apache Expedition in Douglas Arizona. The Expedition is traveling into the Sierra Madre mountains of Mexico to free the kidnapped son of a wealthy Mexican landowner. The Expedition is made up of wealthy men who have paid for this adventure, including Tolley Phillips, a gay man who hires his own English valet. It also includes Margaret, a young anthropologist from the University of Arizona, and two Apaches scouts, Joseph Valor and his grandson, Albert. When a captured Apache girl escapes this leads this small band of friends to find her and use her as a ransom for the Mexican boy. This novel is based on historical fact as was his previous novel 1,000 White Women. Fergus brings us rich characters, incredibly vivid scenery and insightful journey into the Indian struggle with "White Eyes".How Jim Fergus came across the idea for "Wild Girl"
Fergus was traveling in Mexico. In the village of Casas Grandes in the state of Chihuahua, he met an old man who told him the story of a young Apache girl they called la ni-a bronca, who had been treed in the mountains by the hound dogs of an American mountain-lion hunter in 1932. He didn't know what to do with her, so he brought her into town. She was so wild that she tried to bite anyone who touched her, so they tossed her into jail. Apaches played a sort of mythic part in the beliefs of the Mexican populace, and there were a lot of people who came to see her out of sheer curiosity. So many that the sheriff was able to charge admission, and the old man, at the time a young boy was among those who paid to see her. He confessed his story with shame to Fergus. And he would not say what happened to the girl. Fergus concludes, "I couldn’t get the story of la ni-a bronca out of my mind, and I knew I had to find out for myself what happened to her. In this way the novel was born." Thus proving that sometimes, seeing how sausage is made is actually appetizing. And that history need not be dry or matter of fact. more
Discussion Questions
1. Who was you favorite character?
2. Did the character of Tolley, a vocal, flamboyant homosexual, surprise you considering the time period of the 1930's?
3. Did you feel that Ned and the Wild Girl relationship ended with the right choice?
4. How sympathetic toward Joseph/Goso where you when you found out what his role was in capturing Charlie?
5. Considering this book was written in the perspective of a man and 1,000 White Women was written in the perspective of a women, which was more believable? Which did you like better?
3 comments:
I loved 1,000 White Women and couldn't stop thinking about it and wanting to talk about it. This was the book that launched Lounge Lizards and it's still my top 10 book. With that said, I was totally looking forward to reading Fergus' new book Wild Girl. Though it didn't have the same affect on me as his first book, I still loved it. His characters and story telling made for a great read. I loved the character of Tolley and could totally picture him and his outrageous costumes. I also loved his depiction of Arizona and the scenery.
Although I liked 1,000 White Women I found the story line of this book to be more believable. Since I had just read 1,000 WW recently I think I didn't have as high of expectations. And in studing the Native American cultures I expected the old cheif's reaction, or lack of, when he first saw his wife. It is considered rude to look a person in the eyes and weakness to show emotions.
1000 White Women was one of my least favorite books, so I was not excited about reading this book. However, I was pleasantly surprised and liked it a lot. I think I connected with these characters much more than I did with the ones from 1000 White Women. I'm sorry I missed this meeting as I would have enjoyed discussing this book.
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