I found this story heavy going, lots of descriptions but there seemed to be holes in the story somehow. I had lots of questions that were not answered. I got to page 250 and gave up, only reading the last couple of pages to see if it got better but actually I realised, as someone else has written - I actually didn't care what happened. ( )

An interesting subject, but rather a tedious novel, unfortunately. The first chapter, introducing a 'casket girl' named Elisabeth Savaret who is about to journey from France to Louisiana in search of a husband, is promising. The second, about a nameless French boy sent to live with a native tribe, is intriguing. After that, the novel is best described in the words of Montaigne from one of Elisabeth's treasured books, with 'no form and no conclusion. Frequently its reasoning wandered from the point, drifting off into reverie before circling back to its origin and then stopping abruptly, without apology'. Elisabeth's intelligence and personality are sucked out of her upon marriage to Jean-Claude Babelon, a shiftless trader, and she becomes little more than a lovesick teenager, instead of the brave, independent, 'fierce' young woman she is regularly touted to be. Plus, the most important events - Elisabeth arriving in the new world and meeting Jean-Claude, for one - are told in retrospect, which is not only confusing but deflating. Like meeting up with an old friend, who says, mid-conversation, 'Oh yes, didn't I tell you I was married/pregnant/widowed, now?'

'The slimy ditches slithered with snakes and alligators, and at dusk swarms of mosquitoes rose from their slumbers to cast shadows against the violet sky. The aspect of the whole place was wretched.'

I did get some sense of the exotic setting, which is why I was initially tempted to read Clare Clark's novel. The heat, the wildlife, and the various hardships of 'New France' in the eighteenth century, not to mention the various tribes of 'savages', are all detailed beautifully by the author, but not all the adjectives in the world can make up for dull characters and limp dialogue. ( )

This is the first book from my list of summer reads. And I found it very frustrating. I could barely contain my excitement when I first read the synopsis. The 18th Century, a foreign land, Indians, marrying a man she has never met and then falling in love with him, where I could I wrong with this one?

Well for one thing, and this is probably the thing that annoyed me most, I didn’t have the slightest idea as to how she really met her husband, what drew them together and why she fell so passionately in love with him. Jean-Claude is away for most of the year negotiating with the Indians so we never really yet to see them interact as a couple. I found it very difficult to like Elisabeth as some of her actions are beyond belief.

The author also covered pivotal events in the story in a very ambiguous way and it left me thinking, what exactly just happened there…? I found this deeply frustrating and often had to put the book down and come back to it later.

I frequently found myself a bit lost in the time line of the story. Time moves along quite fast yet the characters stay the same. We follow a very interesting character called Auguste. At just 12 years of age he is billeted to an Indian Village where he must learn their language and customs. As time passes Auguste continues to be referred to as a boy when he should be around 18 years old, which is clearly a man in those times.

This story has so much potential but unfortunately, to me, the characters’ were not well developed and just didn’t seem to click together well. From a historical point of view I found it very interesting. The reader learns a lot about how hard and brutal life was in Louisiana in the early 18th Century. Overall I was disappointed as it was not what I expected.

There is a bad mistake in terms of the writing and editing in this book. Auguste is thinking of a blue silk tablecloth that matches Elisabeth’s blue eyes and on the following page he remembers her brown eyes. I know I’m being petty now but in my opinion no author should make a mistake like that about their main character. What do you think? Am I overreacting?

If you like historical novels and want something light to read then give this go. 2 ½ out of 5

Describe it in two words: Disappointing and Lacking

Savage Lands is the story of Elisabeth Savaret, a young girl who, in 1704, is sent from France to become a bride of a colonist in the new French colony of Louisiana. Based on actual fact, these girls were to become known as “Casket Girls” and apparently there are still some residents of New Orleans who claim to be descended from the original ones. It is also the story of Auguste Guichard, a young cabin boy that is left with the Indians in order to spy on them. He is stranded in the wilderness when he is twelve.

I was prepared to love Elisabeth when I read how she left tablecloths and bed linens behind in favor of more room for books, but I have to admit I had trouble liking her and just about every other character in this book. Elisabeth is duly married off to a French Canadian soldier and she finds herself totally in love, Blind to her husbands’ faults, excluding all others from her life, Elisabeth lives only for his love and attention. Auguste also comes into contact with this French solider who brings him back to civilization, but Auguste does eventually see Jean-Claude more realistically.

The descriptions of the struggling colony built on mosquito infested swampland were interesting and informative. As always there was much political in-fighting going on in the background as France was trying to get a firm foothold in this part of North America. The women seemed to live a life of fever ridden pregnancies and back-breaking chores.

I managed to finish this book but I have to admit I found it quite tough going. The way the author handled the passage of time was confusing, we learn what happens to the characters without understanding the how or why of it. The plot was dull and lack-lustre which considering the source material is unforgivable. I would hesitate to recommend this book to anyone. ( )

This is an interesting book. The Casket Girls are a part of history I was not very familiar with. Girls from France were sent to the French colony of Louisiana to be wives for French men living there. They would receive 15 sous a day for a year or until they were married, whichever came first. Most were married within days or weeks of their arrival.

Elisabeth Savaret is a casket girl. Auguste Guichard is a boy who has been left in a Native American village by his commanding officer to learn their language with the idea that in the future he will work as a translator/negotiator/spy. The conditions in the colony are not good.

They both become infatuated with Jean-Claude Barbelon. It is hard for the reader to get a clear sense of what his appeal is to them, but the world is full of people who are charismatic and immoral in much the same way as Barbelon. In modern parlance we might call him a sociopath. Inevitably, Barbelon betrays both his wife, Savaret, and his partner, Guichard. The second (weakest) section of the book deals with this. If a reader can stick with it through that, the third section is also interesting in its dealings with the fallout of the betrayal and its impact on the characters for years afterward.

There is some really lovely writing in this book, even the most horrific sections are often beautifully described. I enjoyed it despite the problems with pacing. There is a great deal of sickness, at times there are food shortages, and the relationship between the colonists and the native populations is tense, at best. None of this is glossed over, rather it is written about in a sensual way, which makes it easy to imagine being there. ( )