Museum of Human Beings: Summary and book reviews of Museum of Human Beings by Colin Sargent, plus links to an excerpt from Museum of Human Beings and a biography of Colin Sargent.

A Shoshone woman, Sacagawea, leads Lewis and Clark to the Pacific at the turn of the 19th century. On her back is a tiny infant. He is her son, Jean-Baptiste Charbonneau, the youngest member of the Expedition--a child caught between two worlds who is later raised by Clark as his foster son. When the teenaged Baptiste attracts the notice of the visiting Duke Paul, Prince of Württemberg, Clark approves of the duke's "experiment" to educate the boy at court. A gleeful Duke Paul has Baptiste trained as a concert pianist and exhibits him thoughout Europe as a "half gentleman-half animal." Eventually Baptiste turns his back on the Old World and returns to the New, determined to find his true place there. He travels into the heart of the American wilderness, and into the depths of his mother's soul, on an epic quest for identity that brings sacrifice, loss, and the distant promise of redemption.

Media Reviews

Maine Sunday Telegram One of the most satisfying works of fiction that I have read in years . . . Sargent sends the youthful Baptiste on a multi-leveled grand tour of discovery that never lets up or disappoints.   Denver Post Strongly reflecting the author's ability as a playwright and poet, [this book] is rich with unusual historical detail. . . . It is a fascinating and ultimately tragic tale of a usually forgotten player in this country's story.   Publishers Weekly With historical cameos ...and an impressively rounded portrait of the laid-back, introspective, nomadic Baptiste, this novel will satisfy fans of American history.   Library Journal This memorable novel will captivate all who read it.

Recent Reader Reviews

Rated of 5 by John Michael Cummings, author of The Night I Freed John Brown
A Wonderful Work of Fiction--Rooted in America’s Legendary Past
In Museum of Human Beings, author Colin Sargent focuses on the life of a relatively little known character associated with one of the most famous American sagas —the Lewis and Clark expedition—spinning a wondrous tale spanning more than six...   Read More

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Books with similar themes

• Historical Fiction
  
• Europe 
  
• USA 
  
• 19th Century 
  
• 1st Books/1st Novels 
  
• Immigrants & Expatriates