Kathleen Grissom consistently exhibits her brilliant ability to meld historical facts with immersive fiction, and in “Crow Mary” she brings to life an actual historical figure whose bravery and strength inspire us as the beautiful narrative brings that era and its inhabitants to life. Grissom spent years researching Crow Mary’s story, including talking to her descendants. This is one of those rare novels that not only has a gripping story line, a strong protagonist, and a fascinating setting, it also teaches us about history. We learn about “Indian reservations” and their ever-changing boundaries (not in favor of the Indians). We see the blatant racism (no surprises, there), and just one small example of the brutal massacres to which Native Americans were subject.

We first meet Goes First, who later becomes Crow Mary, as a child. We see her with her family, and learn that her grandfather was a “yellow eyes,” or white man who chose to marry an Indian and live with the Crow people later in life. We also see Goes First as she falls in love with a Crow boy, Big Cloud, and we watch their love story and its tragic ending. We know their romance is going to end because we know that Crow Mary ends up marrying a white man, Abe Farwell. But her first love story is beautiful and heartbreaking in its ending.

One scene in which Goes First dissuades a beautiful young woman who in interested in Big Cloud from pursuing that interest is not only humorous but serves to highlight Goes First’s intellect and ability to problem solve. She doesn’t whine, she doesn’t complain, she just gets things done. And this is just a bit of foreshadowing to demonstrate how this amazing woman goes on to live the rest of her life. She’s smart, she’s determined, and she’s strong.

But after Goes First marries Abe Farwell, she becomes Crow Mary. She first loses her name during the marriage ceremony, where we see the minister unceremoniously bestow on her the name Mary. That scene exemplifies the derision with which many Europeans viewed the Indians. He tells Farwell that she needs a white name for the marriage license, and that they give all Indian women the name Mary. “Easier that way. Who can remember names like Hits Him Over the Head or Runs the Land with the Buffalo?” The minister thinks he’s funny, but we start to like Farwell when he frowns.

Goes First becomes Crow Mary to distinguish her from the other Marys, and she wears the Crow part of her name proudly. She is lucky that Farwell is a kind man, thoughtful and gentle. He tries to do what is right, and it’s especially interesting to see the clash of cultures as the two learn what is and is not acceptable in each other’s culture. In the Crow culture, for example, women take care of their belongings and keep tight control over them. So when Farwell tries to help Crow Mary with her things, she is insulted. He’s not sure why she is angered by his trying to help. And while Crow Mary does speak some English, she’s not fluent.

There is much history in this book and much emotion as well. While Crow Mary and Farwell have a good marriage, the subject of alcohol comes up often. There are unscrupulous traders who ply the Indians with drink and then cheat them while trading. We see that many of the men in that time abused alcohol, and we see the often tragic results. There are “wolfers” who lace buffalo remains with strychnine, which then kills the coyotes and wolves that come to feast on the carcasses. The fact that other animals, including dogs, die also is of little concern to them. Over the course of the story we see the dwindling herds of buffalo affect the ability of the Indians to sustain their lifestyle. We see how forcing them onto small plots of land, thus ensuring that they were helpless, brought about the demise of the lifestyle of the Indians.

This is a novel that promises much and delivers even more. We love reading about Crow Mary. She is truly an inspiring historical figure. We can’t stop reading because of the manner in which Grissom’s writing brings Crow Mary and the whole era to life. This is a book you will want to hold onto and read more than once because of the beauty of the writing and the scope of its contents.

As a side note, during a book club session for her novel “The Kitchen Houses,” we were able to talk to Kathleen Grissom about that book. One of the things she told us, which has stayed with me all these years, is that the characters took over the story. She said that some of what they said needed to be in the story was not what she had planned. I reached out to ask her if the same was true when she was writing “Crow Mary,” and she said, “After I did the research (years of it), I did my best to get out of the way and let her come in to tell the story. Thankfully, she did, loud and clear.” It’s a privilege to have gotten to know Crow Mary.

This review was first posted on Bookreporter.com.