A sprawling novel, with many characters decribing the events leading up to the attacks on white settlers neat Spirit Lake Iowa in 1857. this fight is not to be linked to the 1862 Sioux uprising in Minnesota. Kantor is a good writer shining in his gift of creating strong characters, and the book is heart-breaking in its demonstration of the vile treatment of the indians by the whites in that area. ( )

I found this book interesting since I'm from Northwest Iowa. History is explained, but the characters and plot drags along. ( )

This is the fictionalized account of the Spirit Lake Massacre which occurred March 1857, in West Okoboji, Iowa. The Sioux Indians killed 38 people and took several women hostage among them 13-year-old Abby Gardner, whose parents had been killed. ( )