Follow the River

By: James Alexander Thom

Narrated by: David Drummond

Length: 16 hrs and 10 mins

Publisher's summary

Mary Ingles was 23, happily married, and pregnant with her third child when Shawnee Indians invaded her peaceful Virginia settlement in 1755 and kidnapped her, leaving behind a bloody massacre. For months they held her captive. But nothing could imprison her spirit.

With the rushing Ohio River as her guide, Mary Ingles walked one thousand miles through an untamed wilderness no white woman had ever seen. Her story lives on - extraordinary testimony to the indomitable strength of one pioneer woman who risked her life to return to her own people.

©1981 James A. Thom (P)2010 Tantor

Follow the River

Exceptionally well written. You can tell that the author did his homework on this one. Also, The narration was just superb. He made you feel like you were fighting step by step along with Mary and Gretel as they try to get back to civilization.
in the Prolog it mentions Charleston West Virginia and the Kangaroos Valley... and that the New River Runs into the Lanes then into the Ohio River. This is true now but at the time all this happened West Virginia wasn't a state yet so there was no Charleston or Kamala County or River. it was named after we became a state in 1776.

Grit and Determination

I found this true story to be incredibly inspirational and gut-wrenching all at the same time. I cannot even begin to imagine myself in Mary ‘s situation. When you realize that over 2000 settlers were taken captive during the French and Indian war by the natives and their stories have been lost his history, it makes this story so incredibly valuable.
I felt the author/narrator belittled the character with some of the accents and narration, but that would be my only negative review.
The end of the story, with Tommy’s return and sequential attack, left me at a loss for words. The people that settled frontier were made of much tougher stuff than I can even imagine.

strong pioneer woman

the whole book was amazing! I could never in my wildest dreams go through what Mary Ingells went through and live to tell about it!

This is a great book written by a marvelous author

James Alexander Thom is an amazing writer. I have read everything he has written. This book is one of his best. It is a story about a woman who is abducted from her homestead by Indians. The main character, Mary Ingles, experiences unbelievable physical and mental hardships but manages to survive because she kept her head and out thought her captors. The thing that makes this books so remarkable is that it is a true story. I won't say more and give away the plot. Just get this book, you won't regret it! Then look for Thom's "Long Knife" which is just as good or even better.

Worthwhile, amazing story you won't soon forget

A few spoilers, perhaps.

Mary Ingles' escape from the Shawnee Indians in 1755 is such an incredible true story. The beginning of her story is a tough read, as it describes an Indian massacre in detail. Although I thought I was prepared for this telling, it was still disturbing. Mary's time spent in captivity, although only several months, also is a fair chunk of the story, very interesting yet not quite as disturbing.

I was fascinated her trip to freedom. It is written in a manner that you feel you are right there with her day after tortuous day. The relationship that progressed between Mary and her companion, in all its developments, rang true and certainly seemed believable. It seemed the obstacles would never cease as Mary plodded along following various rivers, starving and naked. While the story sometimes seemed beyond belief, I have read other true survival tales and continue to be amazed at what a human body can go through when determined to survive.

I especially appreciated the author's comments at the end of the book.

Highly recommended.

Wish the narrator had been a woman

Interesting read but it was disconcerting to have a woman's story detailing all of her thoughts and feelings read by a man. I would have enjoyed the whole experience much more if it had been read by a woman.

love the book!

I found this book to be very well written. I recommend this book to anyone wanting to read about a women's struggle to escape and go back to the man she loves.

Great book

This book is definitely worth the time and cost. The author writes well well researched, dramatic story of sacrifice and courage. The narrator makes it come alive

Good read

I enjoyed the book, even though I skipped through some of the long-winded descriptions of the journey back home in the middle of the book. I realize that the author had to add these descriptions to to emphasize how difficult and challenging the journey must have been, but personally I felt that it did not add much to the story.

Mary Draper Ingles - a true American Heroine

A difficult read and yet an important presentation of historical realities of a day and time many have romanticized ...

The careful research and attempts to understand and represent the spirit of such a remarkable woman, her Shawnee captors, and the husband unable to.protect her from such a harrowing ordeal are to be appreciated. For those of us whose lives descend from early American pioneer stock there is much to be learned. Are we sufficiently tough to meet the challenges of our day? What is the depth of our commitment to marriage vows? How do we carry on after passing through personal wilderness times? Survivor or victim?

The book is long and detailed in harrowing ways perhaps making it difficult to stick with. This, however gives greater insight into what a 6 week, 500+ mile hike through rugged terrain with little to no protection from the elements or beasts while starving to the very brink of death would in fact be like.

Mary Draper Ingles - a true American heroine