A Woman of Marked Character: The Imagined Portrait of Sarah Ridge Paschal Pix 1812-1891, Book One 1812-1848 Kindle Edition

In this sweeping historical novel, the surviving daughter of a prominent Cherokee tribal leader tells her story amid the tragic resettlement of her people from Georgia to Indian Territory during the 1830s, and its ensuing, heartbreaking aftermath. The first book of this intensely researched two-part biographical novel series is set in Georgia and Indian Territory. Sarah Ridge, the educated daughter of a Cherokee leader, witnesses events leading to the removal of her nation to west of the Mississippi River in 1837. Braving a treacherous river journey with her white husband, a lawyer, they arrive in Arkansas and join her family. Dealing with an often-contentious marriage, she bears five children and buries two. Following the "Trail of Tears" when tribal war erupts, Sarah is compelled to seek revenge against powerful forces in the Cherokee Nation. Sarah Ridge's story is filled with heroes and villains: President Andrew Jackson and Georgia authorities force the Cherokee leaders to accept their edicts and allow vigilantes to roam the countryside destroying their homes and crops. Even when the Supreme Court decides for Cherokee Nation sovereignty, Jackson refuses to enforce the ruling. The State of Georgia arrests white supporters and tribal members while the brave leaders fight valiantly to save their homeland, only then to turn against themselves, Cherokee versus Cherokee. This upheaval of her homeland is seen through Sarah's eyes as a participant and witness to the decimation of her people and family. She cares for her "special needs" brother and her aging parents. As wife and devoted mother, she protects her precious children. When she discovers her husband writing his Temperance Society speech instead of their young daughter's obituary of her death the day before, Sarah lets go her pent-up grief and years of holding back her true feelings for her husband:     "The only honest phrase in this speech, George, is that you do not drink whiskey! You are a man of multiple truths. You change them as does the rattlesnake as he grows and sheds his skin. But that does not make him a new snake. He is the same snake but with a new skin.     "You pander to those you think can be of use to you. You hold yourself higher than anyone. You ferret around, getting money wherever you can. You chase my Cherokee cause for the almighty dollar. . . ."They will reconcile; Sarah is above all an honorable woman, truly a woman of marked character. As the daughter, sister, and cousin of the Ridge family who is blamed for the treaty that brought about the "Trail of Tears," she is a true footnote to history. Sarah's story shows a different aspect of Native Americans. Since the Cherokee were promised citizenship by multiple Presidents if they acculturated, some of them cultivated successful farms, lived in large houses, and owned slaves as was typical of Southern plantations. The story of Sarah Ridge Paschal Pix is a weave of fact with fiction. Throughout this narrated biographical novel, she occasionally speaks from the grave to share her intimate thoughts. A Woman of Marked Character brings to life a woman who lived during this tragic and turbulent period of American history, one that is yet unfinished.A Woman of Marked Character as defined in the 1800s is one known for her remarkable ability and intellect, strong in her friendships and intolerances, and a most useful member of society. Read more