1932, The Wild Girl: The Notebooks of Ned Giles

Yeah, okay, I get the character flaws and yeah, some of the dialogue was too modern. And I don't know enough about the Apache cultural history to argue the santimonious diatribe of one of the reviews...What Furgus does so wonderfully here is tell a GOOD story.

I also read 1,000 White Woman, and love this one as well. I remember Tolkien once writing that scifi/fantasy required "a willing suspension of disbelief." I will extend that, or present a corrolary: some fiction, especially historical fiction that uses history as a jumping off point for an admittedly fictional tale, sometimes requires a willing suspension of expectation.

I read this book with interest, pace, and thorough enjoyment. I actually read some of it in my car outside work one morning. I thought about it during the day. I loved it when Margaret began to read Gile's journals...and added to them commentary and her own point of view...very human and something I would have done. I ENJOYED it greatly.

I also liked the ending, the mystical best case and likely worst case, and forgive any shortcomings, as it made me feel the way The Winter Tale by Halprin made me feel...that the author was in love with the place/people and used the devine magic of storytelling to provide light into a dark place/history, as only the writer-as-god can do. Not so different as illuminating a photograph in such as way as to tell your own story.

I also think that Furgus gives us credit for interpreting character actions rather than long descriptions of someone's THOUGHTS. Giles, I think, had some dimension. I think that he could not, finally, follow back into the wild because he was WHITEEYES enough to still judge them...his last question to Chida, for example, was not the return of her "I LOVE YOU" but a need to make sure she would not have killed the boy. He clearly shows his lack of understanding, distrust and his judgement of another culture in these exchanges, and in his admited weak rationales for not joining them - his only friends, his wife, his child. He was truly removed, as his mentor behind the camera.

There you have it...a book club choice for me (we also read 1000 White Woman, and loved it). Our highest rated books so far were that one, Cavalier and Clay, and Crossing to Safety. All for different reasons. We meet on this one in two weeks....?????!!!!!

This is worth the read!!!!

I see there are plenty of reviews that summarize the plot and I also see that the author is a respected author of Western tales. I just want to add that I was given the audio version of this book and I had never heard of Jim Fergus. I was pulled into the plot almost immediately, at least by the time our narrator reaches Texas, en route to Mexico. Thereafter, it was hard to put down.

As an anthropologist (who does not specialize in Native Americans) I was especially interested in the White Apache called Charley. As this author makes clear, culture is more determining than race or any other factor is broadly shaping personality.

If I were treating this book as literature, I might complain that the dramatis personae are rather one-sided, and of course real people are not. The hero in particular is faultless.

But I am not assessing this book as (great, timeless) literature but rather as a highly entertaining yet thought-provoking historical novel that brings an interesting period of history (actually, 2 or 3 periods) to life effortlessly. It occurs to me that this book could seduce the mature teenage reader into the lifelong study of American or Mexican history.

In 1999, elderly photographer Ned Giles explains one of his photographs to a man attending a New York showing of Giles's photos. The image is of a young Apache girl in a Mexican jail. The girl, Giles says, was called "the wild girl," and was found naked and starving in Mexico's Sierra Madre. The man purchases the photograph, leaving Giles to remember the girl's story, and his own, in detail. The tale, relayed by journal entries, flashbacks, and from the point of view of several characters, is set in 1932 and begins with the girl running desperately through the arroyo below the Sierra Madre while the cougar hunter Billy Flowers chases her.

Seventeen-year-old Ned Giles joins a large expedition as a photojournalist to Mexico to retrieve a kidnapped boy from the Apaches. Ned makes friends with wealthy and outspokenly gay Tolley, cultural anthropologist Margaret, and his own young assistant, Jesus.

Meanwhile, Flowers chases the Apache girl again, as she has escaped. The girl had been with her family, in a raid led by her crazy brother-in-law, Indio Juan, when they kidnapped the rich rancher's little boy. She remembers the kidnapping as she hides in a cave from Flowers. When Flowers finally catches the wild girl, he has no idea what to do with her, and so he takes her to the nearby town jail.

In the tiny village of Bavispe, Sonora, Ned encounters the shocking sight of the Apache girl tied to a post in front of the jail. He arranges to bathe and clothe her. Along with his friends, he hatches a plan that should benefit everyone, including the girl and the kidnapped boy --- trade the girl for the kidnapped boy. A small band consisting of Ned, the girl, an English butler, Tolley, Margaret, Jesus, and two Indian scouts set off to accomplish the mission. The Apaches soon capture them, and Ned finds himself in "...another world, a world with its own sun and moon, and its own separate race of man" --- and in imminent mortal danger.

As a tribute to Jim Fergus's talents as a storyteller, I literally could not put down this novel, staying up until nearly dawn to finish it. The characters are full-blooded and alive; the adventure unfolds at a breathless pace and the descriptions are lyrical. As I watched Ned Giles leave chilly Chicago to set off on his adventure, my mind movie changed from black and white to warm Technicolor. The story felt so real that I actually checked (several times!) to be sure that the word "novel" hadn't somehow changed to "nonfiction" on the jacket flap. This is one of the best books I've read in years, and a story that will remain with me. Very highly recommended.

--- Reviewed by Terry Miller Shannon

Really good book. This was the first novel I read as an adult, after reading one non-fiction book after another. I liked the narrative style in that it's personal, since it's in the form of journal entries. Some characters are extreme, some not so much. It takes place in the early 1900's so you get a feel for how different the country is now, and how much a society can change in just a few generations.

After reading “1000 White Women” I have become a fan of Jim Fergus, and he doesn’t disappoint with “The Wild Girl.” The author is adept in developing both story line and characters to make another page turner that carries the reader back to a most captivating time in our history.

Based on some real events, story is about a young aspiring photograher that joins up with an expedition in 1932, formed to find a 6 yr old Mexican boy kidnapped by the Apaches.
The Apache culture is fascinating, sense of place very good, the writing flows and encourages reading, and there are many interesting characters and exciting situations.
What bothered me about the story was the inappropriate silliness of the gay character Tolley. His joke cracking and flamboyance in the midst of extreme danger, torture, and impending death was so unlikely as to be distracting. I was glad when he was out of the picture several times and the story was more believable.
Loved this author's book "One Thousand White Women"

My all-time favorite book is Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks. This tale was not as epic as Birdsong nor as gripping as Kite Runner, but it was a great story and one that I enjoyed reading from beginning to the end. Quite often in books I find myself skimming over filler to get to the dialog or back to the story. This was not the case with this book - every description, every event, every word was relevant and added to the flavor of the tale.

Jim Fergus weaves an enduring tale of Ned Giles' trials and tribulations growing up in an unknown corner of the United States.

Set during the Great Depression, Giles sets off on an adventure to free a young white boy from the bronco Apaches. Fergus is masterful in entertwining a great adventure with the personal growth of Giles as he struggles to learn that life is seldom black-and-white.

When Giles looks back over the decades at his time in the southwest, it's with the acknowledgement that all of the decisions that we make send us down a path in life that is uniquely our own.

Fergus tells his story with the same detached, honest assessment as Giles does when he's hiding behind his camera, capturing the lives of the bronco Apaches.

I enjoyed this one. Jim Fergus is certainly an excellent teller of stories and I do like his prose and discriptive details. This story fall into a category of what you might call speculative historical fiction. The research was good, quite accurate and as I pointed out, the author certainly has a gift for discription. This is not what I call a page turner, but that is okay. His character development, his ability to set moods and to catch the feeling of the moment make this work well worth the read. I can recommend this one.

Good book....not as good as One Thousand White Women, though. :)

It is about Ned Giles, an orphan who goes on an expedition to rescue a child that the Apache Indians captured.

He finds La Nina Bronca and takes her with him after she was jailed for being so wild...lots of good events occur, but also sad events...I enjoyed it.

Great characters and pretty good historical depiction.

When reading this book I had the gnawing suspicion that I'd heard the story before. My husband, a borderlands historian, confirmed this when he read it. Fergus does borrow from a lot of different sources, border tales, expeditions and border books. However, the end-result is an awesome remix, an odd, adventure spirited story that inspires both excitement, mystery, and fear. The book is based on lots of things, but is presented with richly developed characters, plot, and laugh-out-loud humor. In the end, you can't help but assume the author made it all up, or nostalgically hope that it really happened.

Coletta of Rebeccasreads highly recommends THE WILD GIRL as a grand adventure told in journal style about a young man's trek in a Studebaker Roadster on the 1932 Great Apache Expedition to the Sierra Madre Mountains on the boundary between Sonora & Chihuahua, Mexico in search of a boy stolen by the Apache Indians.

An enjoyable read, full of extraordinary events about a tribe of people who continue to fascinate Americans & Mexicans alike. A story not soon forgotten.

I cannot believe this book got bad reviews from other readers. This was a great book that captures you from the beginning. It was not a let down after reading the writers 1st great novel "One Thousand White Women".

Jim Fergus is a wonderful writer that truly brings you into the fantastic scenes of the west in the early 1900's. To step into the perspective of the women characters in this book must be extremely hard to do.

I highly recommend this book as well as "One Thousand White Women".

I looked forward to this book coming out and then worried about it not being up to what I expected. Boy, was I wrong. It hooked me from the first page and I was sad to see it end on the last. Mr Fergus can weave a story and Ned Giles will take you on an amazing adventure. Together the two make this a great read. Cannot recommend it highly enough to anyone who loves to read historical fiction like me.

This historical novel is almost perfect. I can't even think of what is not perfect about it... The respect and "sound" distance with which Jim Fergus portrays his characters and their lives reminds me of the masterly dexterity Sean Penn deals with the characters in his films. "1000 White Women" is a fantastic book, too, but this "wild girl" is superb!

A captivating, entertaining read. Told in journal format, this book follows Ned as he journeys into manhood. Orphaned as a teenager, Ned has to discover how to survive during the depression. He strikes out for Arizona to join the Great Apache Expedition to rescue the young son of a mexican rancher who has been captured by Apache indians. The mix of characters he encounters is entertaining and intersting. The story builds until he encounters La Nina Bronca who is destined to change the life of Ned and all of his friends. Situations will be faced, decisions made and futures forged as they deal with daily life in the wilds of 1932 Mexico.

I enjoyed this book. Found some of the plot predictable, and some of the characters a little "cookie cutter" but I did enjoy reading the book, and liked the characters in spite of some of the lack of depth.

Another great story from Jim Fergus imagination about Indians, whites and the north American far west . Bought this book after having read his first novel "One thousand white women...". Will read it again for pleasure when it will come back to me.

For those that are considering buying this book because you LOVED Jim Fergus' other book 1000 White Women, be prepared for a let-down. This is not his better work. The characters are easily forgetable, the dialog is too contemporary for the 1800's. The book was OK, but is one that I will not be passing on to others as a MUST READ. Suggestion: buy it used if you can.

Another great story from Jim Fergus imagination about Indians, whites and the north American far west . Bought this book after having read his first novel "One thousand white women...". Will read it again for pleasure when it will come back to me.

For those that are considering buying this book because you LOVED Jim Fergus' other book 1000 White Women, be prepared for a let-down. This is not his better work. The characters are easily forgetable, the dialog is too contemporary for the 1800's. The book was OK, but is one that I will not be passing on to others as a MUST READ. Suggestion: buy it used if you can.

Great book, touching story. It really brings an awareness of how the Native American people lost their homelands, and not by their choice. This book also was published as "The Last Apache Girl"--unfortunately I bought both, not knowing they were the same thing.

As we travel through the vividly described Southwest we quickly become captured by the characters and their plight. Jim Fergus has reshaped the life of a wild girl to what we wnat it to be. His novel is tail braided with fiction and history tht totally engulfs the reader.
Review by Will Davis- Author of "The Bell County Bushwhackers"

After having LOVED "One Thousand White Women," I was so excited to read "Wild Girl," and was beyond disappointed. It was incredibly boring, horribly written and the dialogue was actually laughable. Although my expectations may have been higher than someone who hasn't read his previous work, I just can't imagine anyone connecting with this novel.

While I clearly do not recommend this book, I VERY HIGHLY recommend his previous work, "One Thousand White Women" which was phenomenal. If you happen to be interested in this particular genre, I also recommend "These Is My Words" by Nancy Turner.

I had looked forward to this after hearing Fergus on the radio. But I found the book unconvincing. The dialogue is too contemporary, as is the sensibility. The characters are one-dimensional vehicles -- the noble indian (nina bronca), the jolly newspaperman, the vile Mexican, the sweet hero. The plot is cartonish and entirely unbelievable. Oh well...

The only sentence worth reading in this preposterously conceived and insultingly rendered apparent rip off of Neil Goodwin's THE APACHE DIARIES is the author's apology to the Apache people.
But this acknowledgement that the book should not have been written without a meaningful understanding of the historical and cultural context is insufficient. A wise person once advised me to avoid spending too much time cleaning up others' turds, so I'll refrain from the painful and pointless exercise of cataloging Fergus' many, many misrepresentations of people, place and history, except to note that even a cursory reading of reliable sources on Apache interpersonal conflict makes it clear that Apache scalping was very limited in scale, aberrant in relation to their culture pattern, and recently learned from bounty hunters and others.
Suffice it to say that many Apaches believe there is no greater sign of disrespect than speaking when ignorant. The spiritual and material consequences for doing so may be swift and devastating.
By dressing up a puerile fantasy as a glimpse into the forgotten last chapter of the story of the thoughtless subjugation of Native America, Fergus has viciously maligned the Apache. The author might consider taking his apology directly to the living relatives of the people--at Fort Sill, Mescalero, and San Carlos--who he has so thoroughly insulted.