The Unforgiven, AKA Kiowa Moon (1957) - Alan Le May

Written by Alan Le May
Read by Gene Engene
Format: MP3
Bitrate: 64 Kbps
Unabridged

Publisher: Books in Motion
Date: December 2009
Duration: 8 hours 57 minutes

If you want “politically correct” and are uncomfortable with raw language, remorseless violence by Kiowas or settlers, Alan Le May is not for you.

The Unforgiven is a very internse and powerful book set in the rugged Texas panhandle (circa 1874). Central to the plot is the Zachary family: mother “Tilda” (worn down mentally), oldest brother Ben and surrogate father (24 years of age - the father, Zach, had drowned four years before in a river cattle crossing), brother Cash (21 years), sister Rachael (17 years) and Andy (16 years).

The family are ranchers striving to eke out a living. Rachel is not the biological child of Zach and Tilda, but was found on the plains as a baby. Her parentage is questionable, whether white, Indian or of mixed race is unknown. Rachel is not aware of this and is very much an integral sibling in the family.

A reader’s coment….The narrative focuses on Rachel, race relations (whites and the maurading Kiowas), cattle ranching on the Texas plains in the late 1800s, and more. I was particularly impressed with the writing style of Alan LeMay. He is a powerful, intense writer, adept at infusing in the dialogue the Western vernacular of this era. The cowboy slang, emotive expressions, and compelling metaphors, coupled with the lack of proper grammar extant in the southwest at this time and place (yet sometimes even more expressive than the King’s English), made the narrative beautifully eloquent. The action was harsh and gritty yet the author never stooped to exploitation or sensationalism…..

“I don’t know if the author was reflecting the bigotry of 1957 or 1874 but it was a bit uncomfortable with the Kiowa being called non human, half human or “red niggers” - an expression I had never heard before. Not your typical western and even better than LeMay’s “The Searchers””

A bit about this independent publisher…Books in Motion
• Year business started: 1980
• Titles: More than 3,000
• Most popular : The Left Behind Series (16 best-selling Christian novels dealing with the End Times)
Recorded all of J. A. Jance books until she hit the best seller lists and she went “big time” and started to charged too much for the publishing rights.