Guest review: Into the Americas by Lance and James Morcan
Title: Into the Americas
Authors: Lance and James Morcan
Publisher: Sterling Gate Books
ISBN: 978-0473361280
Print Length: 438 Pages
Authors' website: morcanbooksandfilms.com
Plot:
Based on a true story this novel tells the real-life adventures of a young English blacksmith, John Jewitt, during his time aboard the brigantine, The Boston, and also during his sojourn at Nootka Sound, on North America's western seaboard, from 1802 to 1805.
Simply Splendid. It’s hard sometimes to put into words how much you enjoy a book, but this story is amazing. Both Lance & James Morcan have captivated me with their writing, and taken me on an adventure that was certainly a joy to read. Captain Walsh and his men were certainly on edge trading with the Mowachaht Indian Tribe in North America. They were fully aware that things could turn quite volatile at any moment, so they were keen to trade their muskets for sea otter pelts, and get out of there as fast as possible. It’s probably a good thing that they did leave, as some of the muskets misfired when the tribe was out hunting the next day, and they were attacked by the Haachaht tribe. After losing 3 of his men Chief Maquina was furious, and vowed that there would certainly be retribution in the future for any European Traders that sold them faulty guns in the future. Being a Blacksmith didn’t excite 19-year-old John Jewitt. He wanted to sail the seas and see the world. He had the good fortune of meeting Captain John Salter of ‘The Boston’, quite a large sailing ship. The Captain is pretty impressed with John's work as a Blacksmith and offers him a job on his ship, which John jumps at the chance. Initially it was a hard voyage for John when they set sail into a storm, and had to endure some pretty rough seas. So it took him a while to get his sea legs. However when it did settle down, everyone was impressed with his work and skill as a Smithy. They finally made it to North America to trade with the Mowachaht Indians, and the sailors could certainly feel the tension and hostility towards them. Trading did however go quite well for the first 6 days until one of the sailors raped one of the Indian women. Tensions certainly boiled over, and the Indians went berserk on board the ship. Highly outnumbered Captain Salter and 24 of his men didn’t stand a chance, and it didn’t take long for them to be killed. Only Thompson and John managed to survive, and Chief Maquina took them as slaves. John was too valuable to them to kill, and he was put to work as a Blacksmith, making tomahawks, knifes and fixing muskets. John was mesmerised by the beauty of one of the Indian women by the name of Eu-Stochee. He is floored when she lashes out at him with such aggression. It wasn’t until he heard that she was raped by one of the sailors that he understood her hostility towards him as another white man. He hoped that one day she would see he wasn’t like that, and he could get close to her. John starts to teach the Chiefs eldest son Toowin on how to be a blacksmith. John and Thompson can only hope that one day they will manage to escape. It’s hard to imagine the hell that John Jewitt went through, and it would have been hard enough living in the 1800’s, without being held as a prisoner for a couple of years. Both Authors have done a great job in creating this special book, and I would certainly recommend it.
What Others Thought:
At the time of posting this review, there were 19 other reviews on Amazon.co.uk, all of them gave ratings of 3* and above.
On Amazon.com there were 119 reviews, 95% were rated as 3* and above.
The 23 reviews on Goodreads.com all rated the book as 4* or above.
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