Boone
Cameron Judd’s biographical novel of Daniel Boone is amusing, poignant, and gripping, and the author manages to provide a wealth of historical information without ever sounding like a textbook. Judd does an excellent job of fleshing out Boone and his supporting characters; no one is simply a hero or a drunkard or a villain. The novel opens in 1755 as Boone and his injudicious friend Nate Meriwether serve as wagoners under Major General Edward Braddock, and it follows them back to Boone’s courtship and marriage to Rebecca Bryan in North Carolina. The reader follows Boone’s attempts to blaze a trail from North Carolina to Tennessee, with triumphant and tragic results. Boone founds Boonesborough, Kentucky, but struggles with the Shawnee and the loss of many friends and family members. His relationship with Rebecca is complex; he is constantly torn between the love of his family and the call to travel and explore. The Boones are frequently beset by poverty, and Daniel’s reputation is not unassailable when he is captured for the second time by the Shawnee. Judd’s choice to end the novel in 1783 is highly appropriate: Boone the wanderer is packing up his family once again to relocate.
