Woman of the People

By Benjamin Capps

Book Overview

A Woman of the People is one of Texas' best-known and most-respected novels. In this story of the Texas frontier, Capps dramatizes the capture by a Comanche band of a ten-year-old white girl and her five-year-old sister from the upper reaches of the Brazos River a decade before the Civil War. As the narrative progresses, Helen Morrison slowly--and almost unbeknownst to herself--goes from being a frightened, rebellious white girl to becoming "a woman of the people." Like many of the people who figure in true-life Indian captivity narratives, Helen adopts the ways of the Comanches, marries a member of her small band, and becomes a major figure in tribal life. A Woman of the People parallels in some ways the real story of Cynthia Ann Parker, who was taken by Comanches, married Peta Nocona, and became the mother of the celebrated Quanah Parker, the last great chief of the Comanches. But unlike the real-life Cynthia Ann Parker story, where many mysteries abound, the novel takes the reader inside the mind of the main character, and we are allowed to grow with her as she forgets her white heritage and Helen and becomes Tehanita (Little Girl Texan).

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 087565195X
• ISBN13: 9780875651958
• Release Date: January 1999
• Publisher: Texas Christian University Press
• Length: 248 Pages
• Weight: 0.73 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 5.5" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

A Classic

Like another reviewer, I first read this novel at an early age. I have probably passed through all of its pages ten times since, for the beautiful, spare way in which Capps yields language and for the story's consistent ability to move my soul. There is some explicit violence within, which should not be partaken of by a youngster, but the most virulent scene is relatively simple to bypass by those of mature years. Don't let this classic slip by.

Great intro to Southwest Indian Culture

I read this book when I was in the eigth grade, that was 1969. It was spellbinding.....an account of cative torture was probably too unsettling for a thirteen year old, but otherwise, awesome. It introduced me to Comanche culture and started an interest in American Indian history that has continued to this day. Fabulous read!