Apache Autumn: A Novel of the Apache Nation

In the summer of 1841, at the reception celebrating her wedding to the handsome heir to a New Mexican hacienda, 17-year-old Carlota de Cardenas is abducted by a band of Apaches and forced to marry their chief, Lazaro. He comes to love the proud young woman, but she despises him, and after the birth of their son, Andres, she escapes with the baby to New Mexico. Cast off by her original husband because she has borne an Apache's child, she eventually marries an American army officer, Rafael Murphy, who adopts the boy. When Andres learns his true parentage, he seeks out Lazaro, learns the Apache way and casts his lot with his father's people, sharing their forced removal to Florida and, finally, to Fort Sill, Okla. Skimin ( Chikara ) follows his white and Native American characters (several based on actual figures) through the year 1892 in a dramatic narrative solidly buttressed by historical details. He depicts Apache society and culture with understanding and empathy, and resists sentimentalism in chronicling the tribe's demise. ( Jan. )