Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann

 Posted originally on 2/3/24

"Travel in any direction that you will from Pawhuska and you will notice at night Osage Indian homes outlined with electric lights, which a stranger in the country might conclude to be an ostentatious display of oil wealth. But the lights are burned, as every Osage knows, as protection against the stealthy approach of a grim specter---an unseen hand---that has laid a blight upon the Osage land and converted the broad acres, which other Indian tribes enviously regard as a demi-paradise, into a Golgotha and field of dead men's skulls....The perennial question in the Osage land is, ' who will be next?'"    

           -reporter from Daily Oklahoman, 1929

After viewing the film "Killers of the Flower Moon" I was told I should read the book which I had not heard of before. Supposedly it held much more background information and I found that to be true. The book was thoroughly researched with about 40 pages of notes, references and bibliographies. Our Page Turners had read The Lost City of Z by this author in 2015. I gave it a 3 and the group's rating was 2.9 with most agreeing it was well-researched but not exactly a page-turner. I will rate this one a 4; it was a bit more of a page-turner. I can't say I enjoyed it since it made me sad and angry, but I do think good literature makes you feel something. The topic of abuse of our indigenous people is one I am familiar with but the treatment of the Osage in this story was especially heinous.

The story is set in Gray Horse, Oklahoma, an Osage settlement, in the 1920s where oil had been discovered years before making most of the Osage very wealthy, and sadly, many whites very covetous of their land and oil rights. By 1923, 24 tribe members had died mysteriously or violently. This included many of Mollie Burkhart's family---mother, 3 sisters and brother-in-law. Most law enforcement and others in authority were in the pocket of William K. Hale, known as "King of the Osage Hills," and did nothing toward solving what many had determined were murders. When the newly formed FBI became involved, Agent Tom White and his team eventually had some success. He is seen as a hero by the Osage.

Having seen the movie before reading, the characters seemed more vivid and the story more personal. Some like Mollie were easy to feel sympathy and sadness for and others were easy to hate. No spoiler here! I really liked that numerous photographs were included, not always the case with nonfiction. 

Grann is the author of the current bestseller The Wager, which is on my TBR list. 

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Posted on 8/23/24

A smaller group of Page Turners gathered to discuss the book on our regular day. Several members who could not attend sent their ratings. The average was 3.9 with no one really disliking it but some being confused by the time changes and many characters to remember. Most of us felt it was very important for this story to be told and that the author was meticulous in his research. Perhaps we just couldn't enjoy it that much for the same reasons I mentioned above and in my first post.

Only 3 participants had seen the movie, so we spent only a bit of time comparing it to the book. We had a list of 17 questions and hardly addressed them because there were things we could relate to, for example some had lived near Native American people, even in Oklahoma, and many of us had witnessed ugly prejudice toward minorities. All were struck by the quote, "It is a question in my mind whether this jury is considering a murder case or not. The question for them to decide is whether a white man killing an Osage is murder---or merely cruelty to animals." How horrendous!

One for the Blackbird, One for the Crow by Olivia Hawker

 

"I stooped and let four peas fall from my finger into the soil, reciting the rhyme as I did it: One for the blackbird, one for the crow, one for the cutworm, and one to grow."

           -Beulah, from the novel

This novel was a free First Reads selection from Amazon. It was probably the only historical fiction choice in that month and, of course, it's a favorite genre of mine.

The setting is Wyoming, 1876. The Bemis and Webber families farm adjacent pieces of land, but no other neighbors are nearby. Right away the conflict is revealed: Ernest Bemis catches his wife, Cora, with Substance Webber and in his fury murders his neighbor. Of course, Ernest goes to jail, leaving his wife and 4 children to try to survive. Fortunately, the eldest child, Beulah, age 13, is intelligent and capable.

Surprisingly, 16-year-old Clyde, the only son of Substance Webber, after burying his father, offers his help to the Bemis family. Clyde's mother, the widow Nettie Mae, not surprisingly hates Cora for her part in the death of her husband so she is chagrined that Clyde is helping with the Bemis's farm.

A brutal winter forces the two families to live together in order to survive. These are uncomfortable months with Nettie Mae's rage and Cora's remorse darkening the mood. However, they manage to save each other's family members from drowning, a serious illness, a fall and other problems. Fortunately, Clyde and Beulah work well together and, in a sense, are the saviors of their families. 

The Author's Note is very interesting, telling of the personal basis of the story. Some characters originated in the story of the author's great-grandparents. (I can't say which characters without a spoiler.)

Hawker's descriptions are detailed and lyrical but at times, tedious. That and the long chapters kept the novel from being a page-turner until the last 50 pages or so when I didn't want to put it down. I am rating One for the Blackbird... a 4. I may read another by this author.