false 72989520 222325 6349428 0385529775 9780385529778 11 http://www.goodreads.com/images/nocover-111x148.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6349428-across-the-endless-river 3.59 17 From the acclaimed bestselling author of The Piano Shop on the Left Bank, a historical novel about Jean-Baptiste Charbonneau, the son of Sacagawea, and his intriguing sojourn as a young man in 1820s Paris.

Born in 1805 on the Lewis and Clark expedition, Jean-Baptiste Charbonneau was the son of the expedition's translators, Sacagawea and Toussaint Charbonneau. Across the Endless River compellingly portrays this mixed-blood child's mysterious boyhood along the Missouri among the Mandan tribe and his youth as William Clark's ward in St. Louis. The novel becomes a haunting exploration of identity and passion as eighteen-year-old Baptiste is invited to cross the Atlantic in 1823 with young Duke Paul of Württemberg.

During their travels throughout Europe, Paul introduces Baptiste to a world he never imagined. Gradually, Baptiste senses the limitations of life as an outsider. His passionate affair with Paul's older cousin helps him understand the richness of his heritage and the need to fashion his own future. But it is Maura, the beautiful and independent daughter of a French-Irish wine merchant Baptiste meets in Paris, who most influences his ultimate decision to return to the frontier.

Rich in the details of life in both frontier America and the European court, Across the Endless River is a captivating novel about a man at the intersection of cultures, languages, and customs.]]> 9914 3.83 579 164 2 0 false Thu Oct 22 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed Sep 30 07:12:08 -0700 2009 Fri Oct 16 07:01:55 -0700 2009
"river's" subject matter intrigued me, as i know little about sacagawea, other than her association with lewis and clark (and her appearance in the ben stiller flick, night at the museum - sad, i know!). anyway, i also adore historical fiction. while i found "river" to be well written in a technical sense...and apparently, well researched...it was SO boring. the characters were cardboard, one dimensional - they never come alive on the page, and there's little conflict, if any, between them. i just couldn't get excited about them or their lives. perhaps the story would have been more interesting if the author had focused on sacagawea, b/c she was clearly ahead of her time. i feel bad not giving it more than two stars, b/c it's perfectly...serviceable...and that's my problem with it. i want more than that. life's too short for perfectly serviceable!! ]]>