Friday, September 13, 2013

From Doing a Happy Dance to Walking in the Rain - by Ginger Simpson



A few years ago, I wrote a sequel to my debut novel.  White Heart Lakota Spirit portrayed my love for the Lakota people by showing that a kidnapped young white woman could forgive losing her entire family and learn to believe that there were people with redskin who fought hard for what they believed to be right.  Here is the blurb:

Caught between the world of red and white, how will Grace Cummings choose?

A normal morning turns to disaster when a small war party attacks Grace Cummings’ family and slaughters everyone but her. She returns to the Lakota camp filled with hatred, anger and fear, but through the help of another white woman in camp, learns the Lakota way. When white soldiers invade the camp and presume to rescue Grace, she must decide where her heart lies.


The story is fictional, but I poured a lot of heart and soul into the writing of this novel. Racism never entered my mind when I toiled over the story line, and although I know reviews are subjective, I was still shocked at the differing opinions of my novel.  How can I earn five stars from a woman whom I believe GOT the story....

 
5.0 out of 5 stars So Enlightening, So Inspiring

This review is from: White Heart, Lakota Spirit (Kindle Edition)
I have perhaps seven black friends, and for me it's important to see works out there which really emphasise how much we white people just want to love and respect Native American people by condescending to them. I love Native Americans - I always buy dreamcatchers at my local town's Renaissance fair, I've watched Little House on the Prairie at least four times, and actually my great-grandmother was an Indian woman; from Jaipur, but it's basically the same thing I reckon.

This book is really wonderful; I think these sorts of ethnic books can be really reverse-racist when they don't include white people, but this book avoids that brilliantly by having two white characters at its heart. I also really like her cute face make-up.

10/10 would recommend

 Then drop to the very bottom with one-star reviews from three who found my attempts to entertain offensive, racist, and even more awful, attacked the cover that does such an exceptional job of portraying the story

1.0 out of 5 stars "Save the Pearls" but with Native Americans-BOO

This review is from: White Heart, Lakota Spirit (Kindle Edition)
How is this any better than "Save the Pearls" which came out early last year and attempted to portray "reverse racism" while failing hilariously? (And by hilariously I do mean horrifyingly offensively). White women kidnapped by "savage" Indians only to develop Stockholm Syndrome and later have to decided between her race and her kidnappers who she might be in love with. Right. Okay. This book, much like "Save the Pearls", is offensive and stereotypical. I don't recommend it to anyone. -10. (unfortunately Amazon makes me give it a star to post this -_-)

AND THIS

1.0 out of 5 stars Racist
By 
This review is from: White Heart, Lakota Spirit (Kindle Edition)
Cultural Appropriation on the cover? Check.
White Woman's Post-Menopausal Fantasy? Check.
Stereotypes galore? Check.

Sounds legit.
I don't think I can ever take this seriously. Who even buys this stuff?
The cover is taking cues from No Doubt, Victoria's Secret and Kathy Griffin in being cultural appropriation porn and racially insensitive.
Who publishes and green lights this sort of thing? Seriously?

AND THIS

1.0 out of 5 stars Disgusting
This review is from: White Heart, Lakota Spirit (Kindle Edition)
There is nothing about this cover that doesn't scream stereotyping and racism. The description of the story assures me that it's contents will be no less nauseating. Not cute, Ginger. Not cute.

I'm sharing these reviews with hopes of enticing someone else to read this story and decide which end of the spectrum more closely aligns with your opinion.  If you are interested in reading this story, contact me via email.  Please put the title of the book in the subject line.



3 comments:

  1. I, too, have and do walk this path, Ginger. ((Hugs))

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi Ginger,
    I know exactly what you are saying. All your stories are wonderful, but I think people just don't get it. They read a historical but want a sanitized version of history. I have had some 1 and 2 star reviews, saying my hero is too mean and tough. Yikes, in the era in which I write, you too, a man could lawfully do whatever he liked to his wife as long as he didn't kill her. (Not that my heroes are that tough, but they sure aren't SNAGS (sensitive new age guys) either.

    Cheers

    Margaret

    ReplyDelete
  3. History shows that lots of white women were captured by Indians during the old west era, mostly they were tortured, branded, and treated as slaves, but occasionally one accepted her fate and was taken into the tribe. I see nothing at all racists about truth even though I wrote a fictional story. People expect way too much sometimes. I agree, people just don't get it and want to see what they expect. My advice to them...write your own book. l0l

    ReplyDelete

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