Genre City Review: Wounded Spirits
Title: Wounded Spirits
Author: April Gardner
Publisher: Vinspire Inspirations
Genre: Historical romance
Date: November 2010
ISBN: 978-0981989648
Reviewed by: Darlo Gemeinhardt
Her descriptions are so vivid I could almost hear the battle cries, smell the smoke from the gunfire, and feel the agony of the wounded spirits.
Greed, loyalty to family, mistrust of those different to them, and a rising sense of impending doom settle over the people of frontier Alabama in the years surrounding the War of 1812. The Creek Indian War was fought between factions in the Creek Nation over the white man’s encroaching civilization. The Red Sticks determined to eradicate the white men from Creek lands. This is the setting for April Gardner’s debut novel Wounded Spirits.
Adela McGirth faces few problems; deciding whom to marry is her biggest decision until nearby Indian skirmishes take her once peaceful life on a spiraling downturn. Present at the Fort Mims Massacre, Adela and her surviving family struggle against the hardships not only of frontier life but of life in captivity. Totka, a peace-loving Indian brave assigned to protect the white women of his sworn enemy, begins to respect the beautiful white woman and her God.
Living in central Alabama about 10 miles from the site of the Battle of Horseshoe Bend, I grew up familiar with the Creek War. After reading Garner’s book, I visited the Fort Mims site and walked around the compound, visualizing the buildings, what the battle must have been like for the people inside the fort. Her descriptions are so vivid I could almost hear the battle cries, smell the smoke from the gunfire, and feel the agony of the wounded spirits, both white and Indian, that once lived there.
I can’t wait to read more from this talented new author.