Columbia - Softcover

Jekel, Pamela Neal

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0515104787 ISBN 13: 9780515104783

Publisher: Jove, 1987

Synopsis

This epic saga of America's Pacific Northwest portrays, through five generations, the lives, deaths, loves, and adventures of a family that begins with the marriage of a Chinook Indian princess and a white trader

About this title

From Publishers Weekly

In the opening sequence of this plodding generational saga, a Neanderthal called First Boy kills a mastodon by the banks of the Columbia River in the Pacific Northwest. A few pages later, in 1792, the family chronicle of the Demers clan officially begins when a Chinook Indian princess is driven by a spiritual vision to marry a white trader, Duncan McDougal. Their son, Caleb, a half-breed raised by the white Demers family, marries a woman who had been raped by a Cayuse brave. Their descendents build a logging empire and participate in the construction of Washington's Grand Coulee Dam. In the 1980s, scion Nelson Demers, a journalist, helps archeologist Lisa Sing try to uncover evidence of First Boy's ancient triumph before the upstart river floods it out of reach for all time. Jekel (Sea Star has researched the river's history well, making interesting analogies between the ebb and flow of the water and the trying tides of human affairs, but in her preoccupation with the Columbia, she neglects to bring her characters to life.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Historical fiction at its best by an author who has thoroughly researched a subject she loves, and who can write. This fascinating saga of the Columbia River begins 9000 years ago and ends with a present-day archaeological dig. The saga of the family involved with the river starts in 1792 with Ilchee, a Chinook shaman who marries a white trader. Each succeeding generation plays a vital part in the progress of the Columbia country in the Pacific Northwest, as it produces its abundant riches of salmon, fur, lumber, and water. The characters are strong, vivid, passionate, and the writing is rich in local color and humor. Sister Avila, Acad. of the Holy Angels, Minneapolis
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Jove
• Publication date: 1987
• ISBN 10: 0515104787
• ISBN 13: 9780515104783
• Binding: Paperback