Wednesday, March 25, 2009

In Museum of Human Beings, Colin Sargent follows the life of Jean-Baptiste Charbonneau, the son of Sacagawea, from his early childhood with the Lewis & Clark Expedition to his death. Born to an Indian mother and her French captor, he is taken as a foster child by Clark and raised at his home. There he catches the eye of a visiting Duke and is taken to Europe. Why he agrees to go with Duke Paul and to put up with being treated as a savage introduces the core of the book. The narrator focuses on Baptiste's search for who he is and where he fits in his world. The story follows the actual travels of Baptiste and Sargent does an amazing job of creating a fascinating interior life for the man. Very well done.

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