To the Ends of the Earth: The Last Journey of Lewis and Clark

By Frances Hunter

392 pages

Published by Blind Rabbit Press

Review by Steven Wilding

Receives:

For those fascinated by the historical figures Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, they had read many accounts both fictional and not about their adventures with the Corps of Discovery through the Louisiana Purchase. But we have not had many, if any, accounts of what happened afterwards. Frances Hunter has written an interesting, intriguing novel, more fiction than historical, with some mystery overtones. Here we see Lewis, appointed governor of the Louisiana Territory, as he falls apart from illness and alcoholism, and Clark, the militia general of the same region as he battles his own demons.

For those who love historical fiction as a way to understand the truth of the past, I would not recommend this novel. This novel falls along the lines of “What if…” rather than facts and there are some that may not care for such creatively wrought works of historical fiction. For myself, I enjoyed this romp through a possible historical past for what it was. Frances Hunter has written an engaging novel that poses some interesting theories about the two most renown explorers in American history, and the plot is so finely executed that I took this simply as a thriller rather than a work of history. If you look at this novel as simply a novel you will be swept away by the story. _______________________________________________________________

Steven Wilding is an author, professor, and editor who currently lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico. He is currently working on a novel about the Native Americans of the Southwest.