Season of Yellow Leaf

by Douglas C. Jones

Book Overview

Captured by the Comanche in the 1930s, 10-year-old Chosen, is reared by the tribe and becomes strong enough to survive the pain of losing her whole world. A unique witness to a vanishing way of life, Chosen becomes one of the Comanche and suffers with them as the white man destroys their ranks. Previous publisher: Tor.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0061008516
• ISBN13: 9780061008511
• Release Date: January 1995
• Publisher: Harper Paperbacks
• Length: 388 Pages
• Weight: 0.44 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.3" x 4.2" x 6.7"

Customer Reviews

This book could be brilliant ...

I say "could be" because most of the book features the Comanches interacting with one another. It is possible the author captured them accurately, of course, he could be way off. Who knows? For the most part, I felt a sense of realism. But that's just my perception. It's a matter of taste. As far as the story goes, some parts drag and some parts were very exciting. But by the end though, I realized that this is just like real life. One complaint is that Douglas neglects to explain how the white captive feels living among a people who killed her father, whose scalp she sees hanging from her captor's lance. And when her captor gives her away to his father later in the book, Jones once again neglects to explain how Chosen (the white captive) feels about this. Despite this, by the end of the book, I felt that I had been on a journey with these people. Also, it should be noted that Jones is very fair to both cultures. The atrocities were a two-way street. In closing, I highly recommend this book. I believe the follow up to this book is called Gone the Dreams and Dancing. I look forward to reading this book, too.

Loved it

I knew for a long time that Douglas C. Jones was a well-liked author, as I worked in a public library and I shelved books for a living. One day, though, "Season of Yellow Leaf" happened to get into my hands, probably by someone else checking it out. I read the flyleaf and held onto it. "Yellow Leaf" is the fictionalized story of a young girl in a remote Texas settlement who is captured by the Comanche tribespeople, adopted and named "Chosen." When "returned" to white culture as a married mother, she pines for the family she has been torn away from. Loosely based on the story of Cynthia Ann Parker, it is a well-written story of the trials of the culture clash that has been going on for 500 years on this continent. The story is only repeated and repeated, families torn apart, then torn apart again. Like so many tales involving native people, there is a "golden" time to Chosen's life, as there seems to have been to the lives of the tribes as well, that is to say, just before white culture influenced every circumstance. I never read another book by this author, but I cherish this book for Chosen's viewpoint, albeit fictionalized. I also do not know if this represents the Comanche viewpoint well, or is total supposition, but it's a very good read.

Excellent and very readable

In the two existing reviews the date is off by 100 years. It should read 1830!

Makes History Come to Life

It would be hard to discuss one of Douglas C. Jones' books without mentioning the others. I have read all of his novels and found them to be well-researched, historically relevant and entertaining. Season of Yellow Leaf is one of my favorites, but Jones is at his best when writing about historical life in his native Arkansas (Weedy Rough, Winding Stair, others). I would recommend his books to anyone. He really knows how to bring history to life.