Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, June 24, 1990 TAG: 9006240291
SECTION: HORIZON PAGE: C-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
From Massacre to Matriarch: Six Weeks in the Life of Fanny Scott.
By Clara Talton Fugate. Illustrated by Caren Ertmann Gallimore. Pocahontas Press. $7.95.
On June 29, 1795, in Powell Valley, Va., Archibald Scott and his four children were killed by a dozen Cherokee Indians. His wife Fanny was taken prisoner and forced to accompany the Indians on their journey into the Ohio Valley. Hundreds of miles from home, Fanny escaped from her captors and walked back to Clinch, Va., about 60 miles from where she had been captured.
Based on a true incident, "From Massacre to Matriarch" is notable for its Virginia setting and for its balanced portrayal of the heartache endured by both the pioneers and the Indians.
The Scotts' grief is most evident. However, in a conversation between an Indian and Fanny Scott, the reasons behind the struggle between the red man and the white man are made a little clearer:
"We accept the white hunter who comes and goes. We cannot accept the man who brings his woman. A house full of children comes next. In time, our hunting land will be filled with people instead of the forest animals the tribes need to exist."
Part of Fugate's "Tales of the Virginia Wilderness," "From Massacre to Matriarch" is short. It includes numerous line drawings and is repeated in Spanish. This would make a fine addition in elementary Virginia history classes. - LYNN ERWIN
Dying Day.
By James Mitchell. Henry Holt. $16.95.
Mitchell's Ron Hoggett, British private eye, claims to be the best in the business of finding things. In "Dying Day," he and his taxi-driver friend Dave find a transport plane that was lost in the Berlin Airlift of 1948, and uncover nefarious relationships, old RAF loyalties, theft, mayhem and multiple murder.
It's a good yarn, told well with what the Sunday Times calls "caustic, bruised wit." It is probably no better than an American counterpart would have been; the noticeable difference is that British writers can be earthy without being raunchy, and few American writers seem even to try. - TOM SHAFFER
by CNB