A Thousand Moons by Sebastian Barry
An orphaned Lakota Indian girl named Winona Cole finds herself living in an unusual family on a farm in west Tennessee. She builds a life for herself outside of the violence and dispossession of her past thanks to her adoptive parents John Cole and Thomas McNulty, whose narrative Barry chronicled in his critically praised earlier book Days Without End.
The Civil War’s brutal effects are still felt in Tennessee, and a new traumatic tragedy that Winona finds difficult to address, let alone comprehend, eventually threatens the frail peace in her family. A Thousand Moons is a beautifully written narrative about one woman’s journey and her determination to write her own future. It is a story of love and redemption.
A Thousand Moons by Sebastian Barry
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Winona Cole, a Lakota Sioux orphan, is the primary character. She was saved by Thomas McNulty and John Cole, two former Union soldiers. Winona is more or less engaged with Jas Jonski, a store clerk, at the start of the book. However, when returning home from working with a local attorney, she is attacked and allegedly raped. Although she can’t recall who did it, she feels that Jonski is to blame. Tennyson and Rosalee, two liberated slaves who serve as her adoptive parents, as well as the farm’s ostensible owner, Lige Magan, live on the property.
Tennyson is robbed and beaten, losing his ability to speak, which leads to the next twist. Tennyson, or rather, his singing voice, is fantastic, and he is familiar with all the classic melodies. Attorney Briscoe desires to enrol him in school.
The focus of the narrative then switches to a prepared assault on the outlaws who have been abusing and occasionally killing freedmen. Winona resolves to take part in the battle because her mother was a fighter. She receives Tennyson’s Spencer rifle, which she finally loses when Peg, an Indian renegade girl, shoots her in the arm. Peg confused Winona, who was costumed as a boy, for the enemy. Peg has a strong attraction towards Winona. Once the rebels have governmental control, Winona is accused of murder. She once rejected a man who is now the sheriff…
