The Taking of Jemima Boone

Colonial Settlers, Tribal Nations, and the Kidnap That Shaped America

By: Matthew Pearl

Narrated by: Jeremy Arthur

In his first work of narrative nonfiction, Matthew Pearl, bestselling author of acclaimed novel The Dante Club, explores the little-known true story of the kidnapping of legendary pioneer Daniel Boone’s daughter and the dramatic aftermath that rippled across the nation.

On a quiet midsummer day in 1776, weeks after the signing of the Declaration of Independence, thirteen-year-old Jemima Boone and her friends Betsy and Fanny Callaway disappear near the Kentucky settlement of Boonesboro, the echoes of their faraway screams lingering on the air.

A Cherokee-Shawnee raiding party has taken the girls as the latest salvo in the blood feud between American Indians and the colonial settlers who have decimated native lands and resources. Hanging Maw, the raiders’ leader, recognizes one of the captives as Jemima Boone, daughter of Kentucky's most influential pioneers, and realizes she could be a valuable pawn in the battle to drive the colonists out of the contested Kentucky territory for good.

With Daniel Boone and his posse in pursuit, Hanging Maw devises a plan that could ultimately bring greater peace both to the tribes and the colonists. But after the girls find clever ways to create a trail of clues, the raiding party is ambushed by Boone and the rescuers in a battle with reverberations that nobody could predict. As Matthew Pearl reveals, the exciting story of Jemima Boone’s kidnapping vividly illuminates the early days of America’s westward expansion, and the violent and tragic clashes across cultural lines that ensue.

In this enthralling narrative in the tradition of Candice Millard and David Grann, Matthew Pearl unearths a forgotten and dramatic series of events from early in the Revolutionary War that opens a window into America’s transition from colony to nation, with the heavy moral costs incurred amid shocking new alliances and betrayals.

Supplemental enhancement PDF accompanies the audiobook.

interesting

I need 15 words...…..to much history about the time of indians vs English and not enough about capture site

Interesting history bland narrator

I enjoyed learning about this incident in history and about the Boone family. To date, my only experience with Daniel was the series with Fess Parker. Not terribly factual as you can imagine. My only reason for losing marks is the narrator was rather dry.

Excellent story.

I would love to see a movie made based on this book as long as it stay true to history.

Enthralling story for any amateur historian

The kidnap happens so early in the book that it originally left me wondering what could be next, but what happens after IS the story. While at times the timeline jumps can be confusing, there thankfully are not many. Overall a great read!

Challenging expectation

This telling of a story that is far from new brings a 21st century perspective to the assorted accounts from three intervening centuries. It informs almost as much about those as it illuminates the real historical figures behind the Fess Parker images to which we are far more accustomed.