Thirteen Moons: A Historical Fiction Novel by Charles Frazier - Random House Large Print Edition | Perfect for Book Clubs & Relaxing Reading

I should start by saying that I'm the type of reader who inhales books, admittedly usually reading far too quickly and then moving on without committing a whole lot of a book to memory. "Thirteen Moons" was a tremendous exception. The best way I have of describing Charles Frazier's writing here is to compare it to a hard candy that has some sort of amazing flavor -- something that you just want to keep sucking on and savoring until it's whittled down to nothing.There are more than a few reviewers who have criticized this novel for the same reason that I praise it, and it could be that those readers weren't looking to sit down and "smell the roses" of some truly beautiful descriptions of scenes, feelings and situations, as this is the most savory writing I've come across in a very long time. The author truly seems to enable the reader to inhabit this lost world, and that's a sign not just of talent, but of outstanding commitment to a sense of place and time, serving to remind anyone interested in writing fiction that setting is more than just a background -- when done with such precision, it's a character in itself.Will is a dynamic character who literally grows up as an eyewitness to a tragic period of American history. While Frazier could have easily fallen into the disappointing "noble savage" theme that all too often characterizes attempts at stories centered on indigenous people, he has instead taken the time to breathe life, noble and ignoble, into the Cherokee characters. (I adored Bear.) The historical research is so meticulous and this era is so painstakingly created that, with the exception of actual eyewitness accounts, I daresay there's very little else that truly invites the reader to examine and inhabit this period of history in such detail.Will is a character who truly grows and changes in his attitudes, actions and worldviews over the course of the novel. The love story is a bit less finely-drawn, as the character of Claire never seems fully developed, and the reader never truly knows how she feels about Will, how she feels about her husband, or even how she really feels about removal, despite the fact that she is among the removed. As a whole, female characters don't seem to be Charles Frazier's strong suit -- characters like Will here and Inman in "Cold Mountain" have always felt more real and relatable to me than have any of his women, with the possible exception of Ada Monroe in "Mountain."A glorious effort I was truly sorry to see end. I bookmarked many passages and will no doubt be reading "Thirteen Moons" more than once over the years.