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Name: Bride of the Wilderness: McCarry, Charles: 9780453005920: Amazon.com: Books
Rating: 4.2 (175 reviews)

Charles McCarry

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Bride of the Wilderness Hardcover – July 25, 1988

by Charles McCarry (Author)

4.2 175 ratings

Book 6 of 10: Paul Christopher Novels

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Sailing to eighteenth-century America to reclaim her father's cargo ship, Fanny Hording is abducted by Indians and rescued by French officer Philippe de Christophe, who must choose between love and country

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Acclaimed for The Tears of Autumn, The Last Supper and other thrillers featuring master-spy Paul Christopher, McCarry now brings us a very different kind of novel set largely in early 18th century London and New England and featuring Christopher's ancestors. This is a remarkable narrative, written in McCarry's honed, imaginative style and packed with historical detail presented not as background but as lived experience. The central character is the enterprising Fanny, half-English, half-French, who, after various vicissitudes in London, accompanies her godfather, Oliver, when he goes to Connecticut to claim his inheritance. There she is abducted by Indians, taken to Canada and finally rescued by her French lover. The secondary characters, equally brimming with vigor and individuality, include savage Indians (scarcely more savage than the English and French for whom they fight); Oliver's beautiful, willful wife, who is in thrall to witchcraft; the Indianized daughter of an army captain; and a Puritan preacher-surgeon of surpassing toughness. Adroitly depicting passion, brutality, cultures in conflict and New World natural beauty, this novel is as engrossing as it is unusual.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Dutton (July 25, 1988)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 438 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0453005926
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0453005920
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.62 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 8.92 x 6.47 x 1.05 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #1,110,342 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #11,902 in Contemporary Literature & Fiction
- #49,481 in Literary Fiction (Books)
- #55,689 in American Literature (Books)

Customer Reviews:
4.2 175 ratings

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4.2 out of 5

175 global ratings

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LadyGregory

First-rate in every respect

Reviewed in the United States on April 18, 2013

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My favorite genre is mysteries/thrillers, but I'm so glad I tried something new, based on other reviews, and discovered The Bride of the Wilderness. It's a gripping story, told beautifully and in wonderful detail. I'm a history buff, but revisiting London after the Great Fire and during the plague years informed me in a way that was completely fresh and eye-opening. When the story moved to the New World, details about Indians and how they lived, loved, and fought gave me a new appreciation for their knowledge of the natural world as well as new insight into the hard work and heartbreaking setbacks early settlers faced and overcame. I can safely say that this book changed my perception of the history I thought I knew, while entertaining me with a plot that made it impossible to put down. Definitely not for everyone--it's gritty and graphic, but so worthwhile. Excellent work by Charles McCarry.

2 people found this helpful

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Darrel Drumm

Charles Dickens meets Louisa Mae Alcott and Zane Gray.

Reviewed in the United States on August 23, 2012

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Or something like that. The story had elements of all 3 authors in it, Dickens' writings of youth having to overcome extreme adversity, Alcott's stories of women in their historical time and Gray's stories of people in their historical place. It was an enjoyable story, with obvious but not blatant sex scenes, obvious, but not blatant violence, good vs. evil, brave vs. cowardly people, but only two people, father and daughter, that I can say that I liked by the end. It doesn't slow, the story is paced well, the English and American wilderness scenes are drawn well, the people can be seen in the mind's eyes. I tired of the constant stupidity of the "masses."

One person found this helpful

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Will

Christopher's ancestors in the New World

Reviewed in the United States on September 12, 2016

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As a big fan of the Paul Christopher books, I was wondering how this "fit". Was not a book I would have read based on the description, but am certainly glad I did. McCarry gives you characters you care deeply about - so much so that I was reluctant to read the ending. A good antidote to books celebrating military glory and religion in the service of nationalism and colonialism. The story of a man and a woman trying to build a life for themselves, free of the demands of service to God and country in all their conflicting and hypocritical ways. Thoroughly enjoyable and thought-provoking.

2 people found this helpful

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Douglas F. Sainsbury

Paul's ancestors

Reviewed in the United States on July 7, 2020

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I am a huge McCarry fan having discovered him while reading his obit in the LA Times. I read a couple of his books and resolved to read them all. I have enjoyed them very much with a couple exceptions. This book, The Bride of the Wilderness, is one of those exceptions. It details the ancestry of Paul Christopher who is the central character in the spy series. This is book 6 in the series. Seems odd that the story of Paul's ancestry falls in the middle of the series. The story is set in the 1600s in England and moves to a young America. Fanny is the daughter of the patriarch Henry Harding and his best Friend, Oliver. Henry dies early and Oliver vows to look after his god daughter, Fanny. The plot drifts and several new characters enter the story causing some confusion. In America, they interface with several Indian tribes. Fanny ultimately meets Philippe and they court and marry. McCarry paints a vivid picture of the landscape in New England in those frontier days, some of it nasty and graphic. My favorite character is a man of the woods named Hawkes. He is huge and is at home in the wilderness with his three wolf dogs. Fanny and Philippe are Paul Christopher's ancestors and have strong personalities and DNA, which they passed down the generations to Paul. McCarry's writing is lyrical and his attention to research is obvious. Since his books on spy tradecraft hooked me, I was disappointed to read this ancestral piece in the middle of the contemporary world of espionage.

7 people found this helpful

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Margaret A. Bradford

good read, but confusing thread

Reviewed in the United States on January 15, 2013

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This novel changed settings so much that it was almost like reading 3 or 4 different books. Plus, it was written from so many different characters' viewpoints that I didn't figure out who the main character was until close to the end. That being said, I really enjoyed reading it. It was exciting and suspenseful. But I was disappointed in the breach of integrity committed by the main character (once i figured out who that was) toward the end of the book. I won't explain what I mean because that would be a spoiler. It is a good read, but the author needs to work on his plot technique.

Reviewed in the United States on April 10, 2013

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Some of the events in the book are written a smidge over the top or laid out too obviously, but overall it's an enchanting read. Despite its categorization, most of the book is not focused on romance, and what's there isn't too sugary. I appreciate the author's efforts at historical accuracy and lesser-known perspectives. It's a beautiful setting that the character's fated paths weave through. By the end I felt a deeper than ever longing to get closer to nature, and each time I could pick it up, reading this was like meditation.

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Grace Fortiter

Disappointingly drudgy after McCarry's wonderful series on CIA agent Paul Christopher

Reviewed in the United States on January 12, 2024

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McCarry wrote a wonderful series of thrillers/spy novels based on his own long CIA career. Here, he goes back to 17th century England and a commercial entrepreneur building a fortune in maritime trade; after his death a marriageable daughter who owns the business is hounded by a shady entrepreneur and flees to America. I think I won't finish this.

Reviewed in the United States on April 24, 2013

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This page-turner goes from England in the 1600's to France and America. The characters as well as the political and social situations are complex and thought-provoking. As in many recent books (Caleb's Crossing among others), the values of the native Americans versus the "civilized" world are put in sharp contrast, but here there are no clear rights and wrongs. It is up to the reader to weigh the issues and get involved with the players.

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