I thought this was a biography about Jemina Boone, but it wasn’t. It was about the men around her. The story was very dry and often went into tangents that was unrelated to the topic. Still, this is a very comprehensive book! I recommend this for those interested in learning about the early pioneers!

I would like to say I am not normally a reader of history. To be truthful, I honestly wondered if Daniel Boone was a real man or an urban legend. I was pleasantly surprised to find out different.
Having said this, I enjoyed this book quite a bit. The book is not limited to the abduction, but gives facts of what took place that led up to the event and how it impacted Jemima Boone and her family throughout the rest of their lives. The author reflects Jemima as smart, resourceful and fiery, likely traits learned from her father and necessary for the times they lived in. This is a breathtaking account of real facts, and very much in contrast to the romanticized stories heard surrounding women of that time.

I received a free ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was a really interesting book. I had never heard the story of Jemima Boone. I liked the way the book was set up into three parts. It seemed really well researched and seemed to do a good job of providing all view points. The author's note at the end was good too. I kept thinking this sound a lot like Last of the Mohicans, and he mentioned that it was said that LofM was a loose retelling of the story of Jemima Boone.

3.5

In 1776, Daniel Boone’s 13 year old daughter Jemima and two of her friends were abducted by a group of Shawnee men, led by a Cherokee. Jemima’s father and other American settlers tracked and found them. All of that happens in the first quarter of the book. The rest describes the relationships and maneuverings among the Native Americans, British soldiers and American settlers, and the murderous rampages of each group. It also includes the brief time Daniel spent living with the Shawnee.

This fiction author decided to try non-fiction and seemed to rely on legend, tall tales and stories passed down by Boone relatives. I don’t know how to assess the accuracy of any of that, but I was left feeling that he should have dug deeper (although there might not have been much of a record to review). I was mildly interested to learn that “The Last of the Mohicans” was loosely based on the abduction of Daniel Boone’s daughter. I knew next to nothing about Boone and this book really didn’t make me want to find out more. Occasionally, some tidbit of information would pique my interest, but this book is too short to really explore anything beyond a small event in a much larger problem. However, the book did hold my interest, so I am rounding my 3.5 star rating up to 4.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.

Unfortunately, I had trouble finishing this book. I was really interested in learning more about Jemima Boone and her abduction, however it seemed to me that the book was providing more in depth details about the time period and other individuals who were part of the settlement at that time. I could not stay engaged with the book and found myself struggling to follow all the characters and their back stories.

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The Taking of Jemima Boone: The True Story of the Kidnap and Rescue That Shaped America by Matthew Pearl is a retelling of the Daniel Boone family saga. Mr. Pearl is a published author and an international bestseller; his books have been translated to over 30 languages.
A narrative non-fiction which is entertaining, as well as informative. I have heard about Daniel Boone, but frankly never knew much about him. I certainly didn’t know about the kidnapping story, or that James Fenimore Cooper fictionalized the events in Last of the Mohicans.

The Taking of Jemima Boone: The True Story of the Kidnap and Rescue That Shaped America by Matthew Pearl tells of how the kidnapping of Jemima Boone, by Native Americans, started a cycle of violence and revenge. When Boone tracked the party to rescue his daughter, he also killed the son of a Chief. That Chief, later on, took Boone hostage and adopted him as his son. On top of that, Boone was accused of treason by people trying to take control of Boonesboro, Kentucky.

The English, at the time, were trying to get the Native Americans to fight for them. The American Revolutionary War was not going well and they needed to control Kentucky. Additionally, the Native Americans, on their part, did not know which side to choose. Not that it mattered though, both sides would eventually break their treaties and promises.

This book touches on the crossroads of the American Revolution and Western expansion. However, it is not the focus of the narrative, but it can’t be ignored.

This book brings alive not only the Boone Family, but the whole frontier. Daniel Boone is not a super-tracker, but a man struggling to lead. Native Americans are written about with all their complexities and culture, which is one that even today we could certainly learn much from.

This narrative nonfiction book was not only an unexpected delight but a thoroughly enjoyable reading experience that was a bit different than my "typical read." The story is written and told so well and so descriptively that it came to life in a manner that made the events and details vivid and real in my mind. The saying "Stranger than Fiction" most accurately comes to mind as you just cannot make up more juicy details than are "real life" many times. The story in itself is not overbearing in the heaviness often associated with nonfiction tales but was played out much like a blockbuster in the scope and sequence of the telling. I cannot recommend this enough as I am sure it will be a huge success!

As with all of Matthew Pearl's books, it is well written and thoroughly researched.
The kidnapping of Jemima Boone is perhaps a lost piece of history as well as Pearl's first narrative non-fiction.
Knowing little of the real Daniel Boone, this is a fascinating account of Boone's time with the Native Americans as well as the distrust that grew within the colonies when he was thought a traitor.

Thanks to @NetGalley, Harper, and Matthew Pearl for this ebook in exchange for my honest and unbiased opinion

The Taking of Jemima Boone is the type of nonfiction that is easy to devour and pulls you into the story. Despite hearing about the name of the Boone family since I was a kid, I was completely ignorant about their history. Set at the beginning of the revolutionary war, Pearl tells the story of the Boonesboro settlement in Kentucky and the politics on the frontier. When Jemima and two other girls are captured by Indians they must do what they can to stay alive and slow the group down so that the townsmen, led by Daniel Boone, can catch up to them.

The capture and rescue of Jemima is covered in the first third of the book while the rest of it focuses on the fallout from those event and what comes after. Although Jemima is the focus of the summary and the title, she isn’t as central in the book since Pearl is focusing on what is happening around her more than on her. That being said, Pearl wrote that although Jemima’s story was popular, she was often cut out of it. Pearl made an effort to keep track of where Jemima was and what she was doing throughout the events. I appreciate Pearl’s endeavor to put Jemima back in the narrative.

This is an excellent book with thorough and detail research that paints a very vivid picture of the lives of these pioneers and especially the women and children. It is amazing the effort it took to simply survive let alone face the threat of angry native inhabitants. Matthew Pearl is an excellent writer and he has done an amazing job of taking us along on this adventure. This was such a turbulent time in our history and the stories have always been told from the point of view of the settlers while sometimes overlooking the true impact to the Indian population. This book tries to take a balanced view.

Matthew Pearl did a great job writing his first Non-Fiction book. It read like a novel at times, which made reading the history a bit more enjoyable and not feel daunting. This was my first time reading about this particular time in history. To learn about the settlers that kept on pushing the boundaries and creeping into the territories, was a history I never knew about. I really enjoyed learning about the complex histories between the settlers and the Native Americans, and how the conflict of interests and land truly affected everyone. It is not the linear we have been taught to believe, but a messy history that is rich. There were those that wanted peace and those that wanted what they only cared for and would get it no matter the consequences. All this happening during the nation's fight in the Revolutionary War.

Jemima Boone's kidnapping was so fascinating to read about. They way she handled the capture and the aftermath of her capture was amazing. The skills to have a such a young age and being a young woman at that time, it showed the closest truth to settler life and how some could handle it while others could not.

I received this ebook for free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

In 1764, my sixth-great-grandparents were murdered and scalped. The story is told how eight natives led by a white man came into the Shenandoah Valley to rob settlers, who were Swiss Brethren. After they killed my ancestors, the raiders pursued the children, killing one in a pear tree, another in the middle of Tom’s Brook, and kidnapping three (or four). Of those kidnapped, the youngest boy, who was ill, and the girl(s), were killed because they could not keep up. The oldest child, Michael, was taken to Ohio where he lived with the natives for three years before he was returned in a prisoner exchange.

My ancestor’s experiences were not unique. Thousands of colonists were attacked and taken. Hundreds assimilated into native culture. Some escaped and other were traded back to the colonists. But, it was news to me to learn that Daniel Boone’s daughter had been captured by natives, and that Boone himself had been taken and adopted as the son of a chief.

The Taking of Jemima Boone is the first book of narrative nonfiction by Matthew Pearl. I have enjoyed his historical mystery novels with literary themes. Now, I can attest that Pearl’s nonfiction is just as entertaining and just as riveting.

The capture of Jemima Boone and how her father and others tracked and battled the kidnappers, killing several, began a cycle of revenge. One of the natives Boone killed was the son of a chief who in a later battle took Boone hostage and adopted him as his son. The father of one of the other kidnapped girls vied for control of Boonesboro, later telling a false narrative of the rescue and even accusing Boone of treason.

Boone bonded with his native family, who forgave him when he finally escaped; they understood his desire to see his family, and hoped he would return with them. Boone’s ability to find non-violent ways of solving problems and his connection with the natives is impressive, especially when most colonists preferred immediate, violent action when it came to the natives.

Settlers encroached on native hunting grounds, often illegally according to treaties between the British and the native tribes. But the colonists were also breaking away from Britain and the tribes had to take sides. The Shawnees, Seneca, Cherokee, and other tribes allied with the British, entrenched in their stronghold at Ft. Detroit, and were tasked to destroy Boonesboro, which threatened to allow colonists a western stronghold.

In the book I met Simon Girty, a colonist who, along with his brothers, was kidnapped by natives when a teenager. He became an interpreter, his alliance shifting to the British during the war, which gave him a dreadful reputation. Some histories claim he was the one who led the murder of my ancestors. But, in 1764, Girty had just been released from captivity and reunited with his mother and brothers.

Boone was taken captive along with 28 fellow Boonesboro men on a salt-making expedition. He argued that he and his men be kept alive as war prisoners. Simon Girty’s brothers were there and voted for mercy, “a stance contradicting the notorious, near-demonic reputation the Girtys had developed among settlers.” Simon Girty was unable to save another white man who was brutally tortured and killed.

Boone not only had to content with the British and the native tribes wanting to destroy Boonesboro, internal conflicts between him and other settlers simmered and brewed. Boone’s leadership was under attack on all sides.

Pearl’s book is a wonderful narrative history. The personal stories of Jemima and Daniel Boone are the backbone of the book, a way for readers to connect to the history.

I received a free egalley from the publisher though NetGalley. My review is fair and unbiased.

I hope that the skills of Matthew Pearl (who is usually a fiction writer) will be appreciated by many readers and spread the word on this book. The "hook" is the kidnapping of Daniel Boone's thirteen year old daughter and two other girls from the fort where they lived. They are seized by Cherokee and Shawnee tribesmen to balance the deaths of their own at the hands of white settlers. This is truly an adventure story about a clever young girl who helps the rescue party find her and her friends. Clearly, children of early settlers were not pampered hothouse flowers. In telling Jemima's story and that of her father who is also later kidnapped, the author opens the focus to describe the wider ramifications of interactions between the native Americans and European settlers. The cultural differences are shown in context in this book as well as what life was like in the colonies in the summer of 1776. I think this is a marvelous book that will inspire many readers to follow up on what intrigued them in this well-researched and -written book.

I very much wanted to like this book, but it uses the trope of the resourceful and beautiful white girl kidnapped by Indians to lure you in. I am ashamed of this fact, because it is what initially drew me to it. In the book the famous Indian "captive" Mary Jemison is mentioned and she notes that her taking was to atone for the life of a son of the tribe killed by colonists, and I appreciated this mention of the Native American mindset. The book is less about the life and kidnapping of Jemima Boone, and more a superficial look at the forceful colonization of Cherokee and Shawnee territory by white colonists. It is very much about Daniel Boone, and puts him in the forefront as a leader and hero. As a history book it lacks in detail, and as a biography of Jemima Boone it lacks concrete facts. She appears in order to tie the sections together, and this story is very readable, but depends greatly on "family lore" positioned as fact. The narrative seems to forget Jemima, the focus of the book.

This biography of the Daniel Boone family begins with the abduction of his 13 year old daughter, Jemima, by Shawnee Indians. Boone and a small group of frontiersmen track the Shawnee party for several days, aided by signs left on the trail by Jemima. The frontiersmen successfully rescue Jemima and two other girls abducted, but set in motion a conflict that continues for several years. The book centers around the exploits of Daniel Boone, but gives attention to the bravery and cunning of his daughter during the conflicts to come.
Boone himself was later captured by the Shawnee and adopted by the Chief Blackfish. Boone eventually escapes and returns to Boonesboro where Jemima has waited for his return, against all odds. Her assistance in the defense of Boonesboro against an overwhelming force of Indians points out the importance of brave women in the frontier.
This is not a complete biography of Daniel Boone or his daughter, but it fills in many gaps. It also focuses on the importance of women in the frontier and the disreputable treatment of the indigenous tribes. It is well researched but very readable.
Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing an advance reader copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

As a huge history fan, I was excited to read this first non-fiction work by Matthew Pearl. Although I had read The Last of the Mohicans in college, I had no idea that it was loosely based on Jemima Boone’s kidnapping, so I felt like I was going into reading this with no previous knowledge.

Well written and fast paced, this is an excellent depiction of the conflicts between settlers and Native Americans and the fight to retain their land. The complex relationships that developed and conflicting emotions are also perfectly captured.

Highly recommended for history buffs and fans of revolutionary war stories.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this free advanced digital copy in exchange for an honest review.

After recently reading the galley version of another book about Daniel Boone and his family, Blood and Treasure (reviewed in the last issue), I wasn’t at all sure I could “get into” this book. Boy, was I wrong!

Matthew Pearl takes the reader on quite a ride through early Kentucky history. While patriots were fighting hand-to-hand combat with the Redcoats, the “over the mountain” folks were fighting Indians, who many had been recruited by the British to wreak havoc on American expansion westward. The book’s central characters are Jemima Boone and her famous father Daniel. Pearl takes the reader through a series of life and nation-altering events, beginning with the kidnapping of young Jemima Boone in 1776, less than two weeks after the Declaration of Independence was signed.

It was a harrowing time for Daniel Boone and his family. Following Jemima’s rescue tensions continued to escalate as the Revolutionary War heated up. Then, Daniel Boone himself was captured and adopted into Shawnee Chief Blackfish’s family. The story which follows after his escape and return to Boonesboro, highlights the challenges of living on the fringes of the eighteenth century American frontier as Boone and his fellow defenders hold back a days-long Indian attack.

Even in its uncorrected form, the book is well organized and kept me riveted to the story. Another great Daniel Boone history book!

• Thank you to Harper and NetGalley for providing this Advance Reading Copy. Expected publication date is October 5, 2021.

Did you know Daniel Boone‘s daughter was kidnapped? Well she was, in 1776 just after the signing of The Declaration of Independence. This is the true story of how that kidnapping occurred while Daniel Boone and his family were building a settlement in Kentucky. A Cherokee-Shawnee raiding party took Jemima Boone and two of her friends during a blood feud between American Indians and the colonial settlers. This book is a truly fascinating look at our young American history.

Since I’m from the Detroit area, I was particularly interested in the history behind the places and street names found in Michigan and the greater Detroit area.

Well-known for his blockbuster historical fiction, Matthew Pearl offers his first nonfiction title in this dramatic and well-crafted account of the 1776 kidnapping of Daniel Boone’s daughter by a Cherokee-Shawnee raiding party and its aftermath. In addition to describing the events that preceded and followed the abduction, Pearl writes about the clashes of attitudes and cultures that led to them. The Taking of Jemima Boone is a gripping, beautifully told, and ultimately heartbreaking tale.

Only vaguely familiar with Daniel Boone, I read this on a lark since I enjoyed one of Matthew Pearl's novels. I was blown away.

This is the history of the simultaneous barbarity and tragedy of manifest destiny, framed by the kidnapping of Jemima Boone, daughter of the famous settler. This is what good history for a general audience should do—not just an entertaining read (though it is) but heavy reliance on primary sources that illustrates the complexity of a situation and doesn't show a clear march to progress. I especially appreciated how Pearl emphasizes the critical role that settler women played. Pearl's commentary brings context and clarity that left me thinking long after I set it down. Contrast this to years of mind-numbing history courses that boiled the Revolutionary War down to battle after battle with little sense of why and how!

We also get far more about Cherokee-Shawnee social mores than I had expected, and it's a critical part of the story rather than one of those fluffy asides in a history textbook. Pearl's book left me with a profound sense of loss for what could have been— perhaps even Boonesboro as a fledgling example of Native Americans living in harmony with white settlers.

The book title and copy's focus on Jemima Boone is the only thing that gives me pause. I don't think the kidnapping is necessarily the truest beginning here (it's only, according to the description, "the latest salvo in the blood feud"), but it certainly captures attention. I think it says more about our prurient fixation on possible violence done to white unmarried women than anything else. I'm so glad that I picked up the book despite this.