Alix Christie

2 weeks ago | theamericanscholar.org | Alix Christie

The Girl in the Middle: A Recovered History of the American West by Martha S. Sandweiss; Princeton University Press, 368 pp., $32Few periods grip the American imagination like the bloody “Indian Wars” of the latter half of the 19th century. The Library of Congress contains nearly 80,000 titles on the subject, 800 of them from this century alone, and nearly all of them focus on bloodshed from the European perspective.

Jun 23, 2024 | audiobooks.com | Alix Christie

The year is 1838. A young Scotsman forced from his homeland arrives at Hudson's Bay. Angus McDonald is contracted to British masters to trade for fur. But the world he discovers is beyond even a Highlander's wildest imaginings: raging rivers, buffalo hunts, and the powerful daughter of an ancient and magnificent people. In Catherine Baptiste, kin to Nez Perce chiefs, Angus recognizes a kindred spirit.

Mar 5, 2024 | booksbywomen.org | Alix Christie

Writing Across WorldsBy Alix ChristieWhen I got the call that summer’s day inviting me to visit McDonald Ranch, I whooped at the wheel of my rental car. I was on the Flathead Indian Reservation in northwestern Montana doing preliminary research for a novel about my ancestor’s brother, a Scottish fur trader for the Hudson’s Bay Company, and his mixed-race descendants were welcoming me with open arms. Only a few days later, I was huddled miserably in a nearby motel, paralyzed by anxiety and doubt.

Dec 26, 2023 | missoulian.com | Alix Christie

On the Flathead Indian Reservation north of Missoula, a concrete bridge arcs high over Highway 93. This ramp in the sky is one of America's first “animal bridges," ensuring the survival of many threatened species. Driving beneath it last June on a visit to my newly discovered relatives, I couldn’t help but see it as a metaphor, too. A bridge is what writing a novel can also be: a story can connect disparate cultures and people.