All True Not a Lie in It

by Alix Hawley

A New Face of Fiction for 2015, All True Not a Lie in It is pioneer Daniel Boone's life, told in his voice--a tall tale like no other, startling, funny, poignant, romantic and brawling, set during the American Revolutionary War and hinging on Boone's capture by the Shawnee.

Here is Daniel Boone as you've never seen him. Debut novelist Alix Hawley presents Boone's life, from his childhood in a Quaker colony, through 2 stints captured by Indians as he attempted to settle Kentucky, the death of 1 son at the hands of the same Indians, and the rescue of 1 daughter. The prose rivals Hilary Mantel's and Peter Carey's, conveying that sense of being inside the head of a storied historical figure about which much nonsense is spoken while also feeling completely contemporary.

Boone was a fabulous hunter and explorer, and a "white Indian," perhaps happiest when he found a place as the captive, adopted son of a chief who was trying to prevent the white settlement of Kentucky. Hawley takes us intimately into the life-and-death survival of people pushing away from security and into Indian lands, despite sense and treaties, just before and into the War of Independence. The love story between Boone and his wife, Rebecca, is rich and tangled, but mostly it's Boone who fascinates, pushing into places where he imagines he can create a new "clean" world, only to find death and trouble and complication. He is a fabulous character, unrivalled in North American literature, and a prime candidate for the tall tale. The storytelling is taut and expert, the descriptions rich and powerful, the prose full of feeling, but Boone is what drives this outstanding debut.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Canada, Book Club, Adult, American, Literary Fiction

384 pages, Hardcover

First published February 10, 2015

Reviews

[``Laurie · Rating 1 out of 5]

Great, I just found another book to shelve under "Abominations of Ficton".

I recently saw a documentary about Daniel Boone on the History Channel and became fascinated with the man. I couldn't wait to learn more about him and the times in which he lived.

Really though, this book of historical fiction about Daniel Boone is so atrociously horrible in so many ways that I don't know where to begin - but I'll try.

The first 30 pages or so of this book was filled with the subject of whores in Daniel's family, fornication, and lusty thoughts.

Let's start at the first sentence: Your sister is a whore
I didn't purchase this book to learn that Daniel's beloved, older sister became pregnant before marriage.

Next, the author goes into great detail concerning the sex life of young Daniel's ancient grandpa.

On page 6 the author introduces us to Gramps:

"Do you see me, Granddaddy?" says young Daniel as he sneaks into his ancient grandpa's room.

"Daddy told me all proud like that Granddaddy was born in 1666 when the city of London burned down...think of him whoring and all unclean until he came here to Pennsylvania and had to tell the Quaker meeting everything he had done before they would allow him in"

"People smile when Granddad is mentioned and nod kindly as they do about wise, old men, but it is false"

The tale returns to the old invalid Gramps lying in bed after a serious stroke has disabled him.
Young Daniel tells us about young Gramps fornicating a whole lot before joining the Quaker sect and bringing his family to Philadelphia.

Now we return to Daniel's visit with Gramps whereupon G. points to the pot beside his bed and young D. assists G. with said pot.

I know all of you are just dying to know what Gramps ancient private parts look like so I'll indulge you with Dan's description: "I steal a glance at his private parts, they are old and lifeless looking" TMI perhaps?

Now that we know all about young and ancient Gramps, let's move on to page 9, where Daniel's beloved older sister has been hauled up before the Quaker meeting where she has to confess her sin of fornicating with her fiance and becoming pregnant. Lucky for us that the author goes into great detail when describing this event.

Who knew? Some Quakers and Christians are quite lusty!

So, we must soldier on as we progress to page 24 and meet Daniel's big brother Israel and his fornicating ways with an Indian lass. Daniel even spies on them while they are 'doing it' and is kind enough to tell us all about it.

I'm sure all of us are ever so curious to hear all about young Daniel's sex life, but since I threw this book in the garbage around page 30 I will (thankfully!) never know.

I wisely pick up the book Boone: A Biography by Robert Morgan, the author of one of my favorite books "Gap Creek". This biography of Boone reads like a wonderful and thrilling book of historical fiction. Morgan brings Boone's era and feats to life and I can't put it down.

Daniel Boone was a unique and fascinating person and led an interesting life during the Frontier era of American history, so I find it sad that author "Alix Hawley" (sorry I'm unable to provide links here, since Goodreads seems to be acting up again) chose to talk incessantly about sex and how evil the Society of Quakers were.

And if that isn't bad enough, Hawley has Boone telling his life story in some sort of corn pone accent that will grate on your nerves.

Hawley has no feel for this era or Boone either. Although Boone was a great man in American history you would never know this if you read her fictional and ridiculous account of his life.

Whoever encouraged Hawley in her endeavors should be ashamed!

Here's a little trivia for history buffs; Boone's family was descended from the Norman de Bohun family. The Bohun heiress, Mary Bohun, was the mother of King Henry V.

*Edit to add: My unhappy experience with this book has inspired me to create a new list:

https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...

Do your good deed for the day and warn others of the worst works of Historical Fiction that you think should be on this list.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a story about Daniel Boone. Yes, that Daniel Boone, the international frontiersman legend.

Here, however, is the fictional Boone who narrates the story in hindsight, haunted by his legend, feeling guilt about the price his family pays for his weakness. And more often than not, his few successes come not because of his actions but despite them.

Boone has a good PR man, who likes to exaggerate about Boone. So, the legend is born, and Boone becomes an unwitting victim of his own fame, often disappointing himself and those around him. For not meeting up to his own image.

The author masterfully creates both a dreamlike world and a fearful fantasy. We get to know her Boone intimately. The cruelty of the 18th century frontier environment is present to readers.

But the magic…

Hawley’s treatment of Boone’s inner life.

This book does an amazing job in creating an interesting view on how Daniel Boone was manufactured and how his myth was perpetuated.

[Krista · Rating 3 out of 5]

Many heroic actions and chivalrous adventures are related of me which exist only in the regions of fancy. With me the world has taken great liberties, and yet I have been but a common man.
— Daniel Boone

In the preface to All True Not a Lie in It, author Alix Hawley says of her subject Daniel Boone, “My story is about trying to find him. His story is about trying to find paradise, and about what happened when he brought about its ruin.” I must confess that I didn't know a thing about the famous frontiersman, and although Hawley starts with Boone's Pennsylvania childhood and traces his peripatetic biography for the next five decades, I was left feeling like I still hadn't gotten to know him (and had to turn to wikipedia to fill in the blanks). As a Canadian, I started with no particular hero worship of the subject, and based on both this book and the wikipedia info, I'm left scratching my head and wondering, “So why was Daniel Boone a legend in his own time after all?”

There is something halting and hesitant about this book, as though none of the characters is willing to be straightforward, and although we spend the entire time inside Boone's brain, I didn't grow to understand his motivations at all. I didn't understand why the rich and prominent William Hill would keep showing up in Boone's life, offering to give him money and opportunities; declaring from the time they were antagonistic children together that he'd be the one to write a biography of Boone one day (despite Boone being the unremarkable and unsociable child of outcast members of their Quaker community). I didn't understand the leap from Boone being sweet on Rebecca, to bagging her a deer, to suddenly marrying her. I didn't understand why every time his growing family was settling in somewhere, Boone would schlep them all off to clear a homestead in some new wilderness (but I did enjoy the image of the babies being packed in baskets on the flanks of horses, wailing and crying for their Mama).

The language in All True is lovely and poetic, but I found it to be somewhat incompatible with the subject, and the more I thought about it, I wonder if it's because it read as feminine prose (would a man kept from his wife daydream of the way her hair fans across her pillow? Unfair or not, I would have believed a chaste detail like that more had it been written by a man.) Boone is constantly haunted by visions of his dead friends and family, giving a hallucinatory vibe to the story, and there's just very little said about the grit and grime of his actual existence. I do like the imagery in the following passage, but don't know if it feels authentic as the thoughts of a man of Boone's time as he faced down death:

All moved backwards now, there is no forward. A smell of wolf. Wolf's stomach. This is where I am again, then. I sigh and sink and the stinking wolf stomach cradles me in pieces. And I am so glad.

But the word will not let me be.

I flap my baby wings a little, this is the way my arms feel, weak as a new chicken's wings fresh out of the egg. They hurt to move, they hurt to unbend. I am trying to pull myself up out of the wolf's gut and its gullet, out of its throat and over its lolling tongue. The smell is sharper here, and the gate of the teeth is sharp.

I enjoyed the sections with Chief Black Fish and the other Shawnee – Hawley was able to depict the Natives as authentic people (neither monsters nor cliches) – and it was an interesting portrayal of a people facing down their own destruction; an interesting depiction of Boone leading the White folks into Kentucky without any evil intent of his own. And yet: even though Boone fought in the French and Indian wars, the American Revolution, and was around for the War of 1812; even though he blazed the Wilderness Trail through the Appalachians; even though his exploits were immortalised by James Fenimore Cooper and Lord Byron; even though he was a keen tracker and a crack shot, nothing in this book makes me think that Boone was much more than an early victim of celebrity; a common man after all.

All True Not a Lie in It is an interesting, if not a traditional, frontier tale and even the winky title acknowledges that perhaps historical fact isn't the book's intent; but then what was the intent? I liked individual sections, but don't know if they add up to anything bigger in the end. I'd rate it 3.5 stars if I could and am rounding it down to rank this book against the other titles I've read on this year's Giller Prize longlist.

[Brian · Rating 2 out of 5]

How do, redskin brothers. I'm writing as a person who as a child delighted in playing cowboys and Indians, grew up in the US of A practically worshiping the D. Boone who had slaughtered a "bar" on "this tree." That child attended American public school where Boone personified manifest destiny--a concept still treasured by the millions of American who support the likes of Donald Trump and George W, Bush. That child, from my more northern perspective and more than a half century of political enlightenment, found the frontiersman's transformation into a champion of Indigenous culture and rights as hard to swallow as his backwoods prose was hard to digest. Assuming the title was tongue in cheek, I thought that was the best part of the book.

[Phil James · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review after receiving book as Giveaway.
I really liked this even though it wasn't quite like my usual styles or genres. i.e. no post-modern trickery, magical-realist fantasies or ironic humour.
With the title "All true not a lie in it" I was expecting the opposite, a bunch of tall tales from an unreliable narrator, but instead Alix Hawley has set herself a harder task. How to tell the exact history, from the facts of Daniel Boone's life, and also make it vividly new and interesting.
She succeeds by giving us the thoughts and impressions of a man dragged into a mythical life almost as a spectator in his own tale, surrounded by the ghosts of people he has survived.
Remarkable.

[Leigh Ann · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was assigned for our book club and it's a fictional telling of Daniel Boone, as if it was his musings on the first half of his life. (There is a sequel in the works). I did not like the style or the way his story
is told. Not my cup of tea.

[Sonyarussell · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was hard to get into Boone's mindset. The story started with a lot of swearing, and every unmarried woman was called a whore. I did eventually travel back to the time where most were not educated, government was minimal, women had no power, the majority of the population lived in poverty, and pioneer spirit drove people to any minuscule opportunity. I found Boone's inner life sad. He seemed wildly in love with his family (parents, wife, children), but his relationships were never enough. He was full of discontent, being constantly pulled by both guilt, and childhood dreams. I look forward to Alix's next book.

[Loretta · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was very close to a 5. It is exquisitely written, a compelling and, especially in the last half, heartrending character study of a person who is a figure of myth and legend. Hawley renders Daniel Boone as profoundly broken, and yet also brings out the stories and qualities that fit him into the American story so deeply. It's a wonderful book, hard to read at several points, and not that strong on plot for a large chunk of the middle, which I think is what's holding me back from the full five stars. But really, it's wonderful. I recommend it.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

After checking Wikipedia, I find that "All True, Not a Lie in It" does, indeed, follow the progress of Daniel Boone's life from when he was a small child right though to his life among the Shawnees. This is a story of how his wanderlust shaped his life, and led him to his many misadventures. If the title isn't true, then it's darn close.
I won this advance reading copy on Goodreads.

[Sheila · Rating 1 out of 5]

Creative, I'll give you that. Readability and enjoyment receive a big failure in my opinion. I was turned off by the first chapter but I persevered I until page 115, when I had finally, just 'had enough'. I was reading it as a book club choice so tried hard to keep going. The author is trying to reconstruct the story of Daniel Boone but I did not like her style of writing at all.

[Grace · Rating 4 out of 5]

There were times when I simply had to stop reading because of the emotions evoked by the telling of the story. This story could have been dry history, but the way Alix Hawley chose to tell it made it all the more real. All the way through, you feel as if you're inside Daniel Boone's head - feeling what he feels.

[Kelly · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the start of this book, setting up the life of Daniel Boone and seeing him made real. As it went along, I lost interest and didn't think that as a narrator that he showed enough depth of character.

[Jenn · Rating 2 out of 5]

I couldn't do it. I checked this book out 3 times, and only made it to page 108.

[Patsy · Rating 1 out of 5]

A struggle to read the first chapter

[Cate O'Toole · Rating 5 out of 5]

I cannot overstate how much I loved this novel. If you're looking for a novel about an American hero taming the wild frontier that follows a straight line and ends triumphantly, you will be disappointed. But historical fiction that breaks my heart is my favorite genre, and I am officially an Alix Hawley superfan.

Hawley's writing is spare but vivid, well suited to a character as haunted as her Daniel Boone. I enjoyed the meandering, dreamlike quality of his narration, the observations and memories that crept in from the periphery. Hawley has clearly done her research but doesn't hit the reader over the head with how much she knows. At the end of the day, I don't care what's "accurate" because the story is so fascinating. When I reached the end and there were no more pages to read, I wanted to weep - luckily I hear she is working on a sequel. Eagerly looking forward to that book and more from this writer!

[Marvin · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is probably a very good book, a creatively told fictional autobiography of Daniel Boone. The first half, “When I Am Good,” is filled with his struggle between his yearning to occupy the paradise that he thinks Kentucky is with his sense of responsibility to his family (immediate and extended), who generally wish for a more settled life. The second half, “When I Am Not,” during most of which he is a captive/adopted son of the chief of a Shawnee village, is filled with his regret for the suffering that is caused by his giving in to his yearning. In that half, his self-image contrasts sharply with the heroic image spread abroad by his literary champion, who exaggerates his accomplishments. Why it ended where it did, is a total mystery to me. All in all, its literary quality does not, for me, adequately compensate for its unrelentingly melancholy tone, which makes it a drag to read, even if we do occasionally see some flashes of the adventures we think of when we think of Daniel Boone.

[Elaine Griffith · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very primitive country when Daniel Boone entered the world and he was ideally suited to this environment. He was a man of wanderlust, always wanting to venture into the perfect next piece of land.
We here and see the world through his thoughts in this story. So many of the situations presented can be confusing. The author does not tell you the research or sources she used to to frame his character and thoughts. This would have been quite useful and added more credibility to the whole frontiersman image.
Daniel was certainly connected with his deceased family members, in particular his brother, Israel, and son, Jamesie.
His love and attachment to his wife, Rebecca, was strong and true. But his idea of a business trip into the unexplored wilderness was for a year or more.
In the beginning, he felt entitled to explore & settle the Kentucky territory with little for thought that the natives were here first, typical for his time.
If you’re curious about those who came before this will surprise and startial you.
The episode with the natives will display almost a foreign concept of family and trust.
Still I would very much like to know how the author arrived at presenting her picture of his life.
Daniel fell into the same image we give to the founding fathers-perfect human beings. We forget they were human and flawed as us all. Daniel was such.

[J · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted so much to really like this book. Fascinating character (an insight into how Daniel Boone's like could have been like), "local" author, heard an interview on the radio with the author and the book sounded intriguing.... In reality, not so much. Hard to read, especially how the dialogue is written with no quotation marks, but dashes so sometimes it was hard to follow as to who was speaking. Also, the constant reference to whores wore a bit thin. There were parts where I was thinking that this might actually be ok (after I got past the first few chapters), but the majority of the time I was struggling to finish the book because I just hate not finishing. No, certainly not what I expected.

[Anna]

What an undertaking - mostly successful. I think of the utter guts it would take to write a book about such a famous historical figure - and an American one at that. It's no small feat, and Hawley's language is the kind of writing that makes me want to give up my own writing because hers is so fierce and odd and jarring and beautiful. This is a story about what you would sacrifice for the live you think you want to lead, and how that poisons you. Boone becomes more and more reprehensible as the story deepens, although we're cut short - the ending, unless you're familiar with Boone's life, seems unclear. A fever dream? Something aborted? Or the truth? But maybe that's the entire theme of Boone and his yarn-spinning life.

[Kristen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Novel is told from the viewpoint of the main character Daniel Boone. Daniel and his wife Rebecca have a large family and move often. Daniel also goes off on long (months) hunts to provide for the family. He has regular encounters with Natives and eventually after settling in Kentucky where not all Native tribes have signed the land treaties, he is captured, along with others. Daniel is adopted by Black Fish, a Shawnee Chief as a son, and learns their way of life. Their tribe is full of adoptive people from other tribes or whites.
Interesting story which is sometimes disturbing, but touches on a time in American History.

[Emily · Rating 2 out of 5]

Thanks to Goodreads for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. Here it is. One, I spent almost a month reading this book. I wanted to put it down and not pick it back up again, but I was too close to the end to stop. Two, this novel was not what I expected it to be. I believe I would have got much more out of a nonfiction account of his life. Three, there were entertaining points and descriptive action but not enough to keep me locked into the story. All in all, this story was just not for me. Others may enjoy it, but I will probably not pick it up again.

[Claire · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very well written book, and I did enjoy it! The life of Daniel Boone and his adventures in the frontier of Kentucky was a captivating story. His inner struggle in coming to terms with the death of his brother and his relationship with his wife made him a very complex character. The harsh judgments of his Quaker community regarding sexuality and women also was troubling to him. The book also had a lot of depth in the portrayal of the Indigenous peoples, as well as the Negro slave in the story. It is historical fiction at its best!

[Gottesburen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well written

As I read, I tried to reconcile this Daniel Boone with the TV character and legend I remember from my past but this Daniel Boone was a much more deeper character. One who struggled with life he was living, instincts, love, loss and survival. I was pulled into the mind of this character through the writer 's skill at telling this story. Having finished this book, I find myself thinking about what goes on in Daniel Boone's life and mind beyond where the words stopped, wishing that the words continued.

[Robert Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

+Really enjoyed this fictional account of Daniel Boone's life from childhood in a Quaker community in Pennsylvania through Virginia, Carolina and into Kentucky where he becomes a prisoner & adopted son of a Shawnee chief. I was disappointed when the story stopped as the preparations are made to attack the fort at Boonesborough where DB's white family is. His brothers, their wives, Rebecca and their sons & daughters may still be there. Would have loved it if the story continued at least until he settled in Missouri for a spell.+

[Jim Groves · Rating 3 out of 5]

What I like about this subject is just how incredibly difficult life was back then - for everyone - and it really wasn’t that long ago. That being said, I found this hard to read. It’s fiction so there is a lot of “made up but probably some truth” in it. The style was awkward, like it was his diary but it was all choppy and was difficult to follow what exactly was going on. Anyway, wish it was a 10 star system. 2 seems to low and 3 is maybe a bit too much. I did finish it so it has to be at least a 3 but really like 2.5.

[Pamela · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lossful life

This is a compelling story that had me wondering what really happened to Daniel Boone. Even after reading more about him outside the story, I am still faced with this story of a man who endured loss of those he loved, who remade his life over and over in the image of the open land and its peoples, who wants to be with those he lost. It is about the inner life, from his own inner voice, of such a restless man.

[Eve-Lynn · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not my cup of tea. Another book I took on as a result of a newspaper book section review and did not enjoy. However, I am exposing myself to biographical fiction and discovering that the authors seem to be sating their desires to present facts at the cost of an interesting read OR, in this instance, delighting in her ability to put words on paper in a unique style--in both instances, the work is not compelling.

[Arthur · Rating 2 out of 5]

The truth be told .

An interesting take on the life of Daniel Boone . The author is telling the story through the mind of the protagonist. It started out well but it was a little too much for me . By the end of the book the author made Daniel seem like he had mental health issues. My diagnosis is paranoid schizophrenic.

[Joe Spoto · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have read biographies of Daniel Boone in the past. This book is more of a fictional narrative or memoir of Boone based on facts. It was interesting and an easy, quick read, however it was not the kind of book that I couldn't put down.

[Annie Pisarello · Rating 3 out of 5]

Informative story of Danial Boone told through stream of consciousness. His thoughts and descriptions of the many episodes of his storied life. His childhood as a Quaker, his marriage and children, and his many dealings with the Indians in Kentucky. Dark story of a difficult time.