Mohawk Woman (Iroquois Series)

The third novel in the author's Iroquois series, set in the early eighteenth century, follows the struggle of Singing Brook to save her husband, a Native American prisoner of war named Sky Toucher, from execution for treason. Reprint.

Impressive knowledge of Native American culture and tradition coexists with a formulaic plot in Riefe's third installment (after The Woman Who Fell from the Sky and For Love of Two Eagles) in her series about the downfall of the Iroquois during the battle for North America between the English and the French in the early 1700s. The tale opens with the travails of a pair of young Mohawk lovers, Sky Toucher and Singing Brook, whose romance breaks the tribe's tradition of arranged marriage. Shortly after they defy that tradition and marry, Sky Toucher is enlisted by the English as a scout. When he's captured in French territory and taken to Quebec, his bride attempts a perilous mid-winter rescue mission against the advice of almost everyone in the tribe. Riefe adds nothing substantially new to the timeless tale of young lovers who defy custom to be together, and the only variation from the standard rescue yarn is the gender switch. But her ability to weave historical detail into her narrative often animates her otherwise cliched plot and characters.
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