• Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to secondary sidebar

New York Almanack

History, Natural History & the Arts

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • Adirondacks & NNY
  • Capital-Saratoga
  • Mohawk Valley
  • Hudson Valley & Catskills
  • NYC & Long Island
  • Western NY
  • History
  • Nature & Environment
  • Arts & Culture
  • Outdoor Recreation
  • Food & Farms
  • Subscribe
  • Support
  • Submit
  • About
  • New Books
  • Events
  • Podcasts

A New Hudson River Historic Fiction: Tail Feather

August 27, 2020 by Editorial Staff 3 Comments

Tail Feather CoverBook purchases made through this link support New York Almanack’s mission to report new publications relevant to New York State.

The new novel Tail Feather: Adventures of a Mohawk Paddler on the River-That-Flows-Two-Ways (2020) by Ray E. Phillips delivers the audience to turbulent times archaeologists call the “contact period,” the time of first encounters between indigenous people of the Americas and European explorers, traders, and settlers.

The story embraces a sweeping panorama off the Hudson River from Lake-Tear-of-the-Clouds in the Adirondacks the Manhattan Island.

The story of unfolds through the experiences of a Mohawk youth on a trading mission. Traveling downriver by canoe, the flint and shell traders encounter the ship of Adriaen Block in the Tappan Zee. It’s a chance meeting that sets the time as the spring of 1613.

Many of the natural sights along the Hudson River that are described in the story can still be seen relatively unchanged today. Notes explaining various cultural and geographical aspects of the plot complement the story.

Ray E. Phillips, MD. is the author of several books on cardiovascular medicine and the clinical exam, published by McGraw Hill, W.B.Saunders and Springer Nature. He has contributed to the New York Almanack, including “Colonial Medicine: Treating George Washington.” An essay, “The Devil’s Bite” (the story of scurvy) is in the current issue of Sea History Magazine.

Book Purchases made through this Amazon link help support the New York Almanack‘s mission to report new publications relevant to New York State. If you found this post helpful, make a contribution at our Rally.org fundraising page. Books noticed on the New York Almanack have been provided by their publishers.

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, Books, History Tagged With: Books, Hudson River, Indigenous History, Native American History

About Editorial Staff

Stories written under the Editorial Staff byline are drawn from press releases and other notices. Submit your news to New York Almanack here.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Anna says

    August 28, 2020 at 3:07 PM

    Great book, prescient and thorough. The author throws the door open on Upstate New York landscape in the 17th century, detailing natural sights that are still there today.

    Reply
  2. Julia says

    September 1, 2020 at 3:41 PM

    Tail Feather was a great read. Presents a cinematic tour of the Hudson and a moving coming-of-age story. A fun adventure, while illuminating of the time period, landscape, and culture. Highly recommended!

    Reply
  3. Judy says

    September 8, 2020 at 4:29 PM

    A young Mohawk’s journey of self-discovery is truly an eye-opener, as he encounters unfamiliar practices and customs of other tribes living along the river, as well as the ship of Adriaen Block. Reading the story was gratifying for me, as it highlighted many of the Hudson River sites that I know so well. The “List of Notes” separating the two parts of the book shows at a glance the monumental research undertaken by the author.
    “Tail Feather” combines a heart-warming story of adolescence with vast “flora and fauna” and cultural content. People of all ages should enjoy this book.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Support Our 2022 Fundraising

Subscribe to New York Almanack

Subscribe! Follow the New York Almanack each day via E-mail, RSS, Twitter or Facebook updates.

Recent Comments

  • Kurt McKeone on Ballston Lake’s Forest Park Amusement Park Tour
  • Deirdre Sinnott on Chester A. Arthur, The Spoils System & Civil Service Reform
  • Thomas Keating on Chester A. Arthur, The Spoils System & Civil Service Reform
  • Brian S Barrett on The Misnamed Columbia County ‘Battle of Egremont’
  • Bruce Venter on Bradstreet’s Raid: A 1758 Riverine Operation
  • Jim Harris on Winter In the Catskills: The Columbia Ski Resort
  • Jane Aiken on Saratoga Spa in 1935: A State Health Resort Opens
  • Sue on Poetry: Cabin Pantry Discovery
  • Ronald Gary Grove on The Misnamed Columbia County ‘Battle of Egremont’
  • Bob Meyer on Poetry: Cabin Pantry Discovery

Recent New York Books

Taking Sides in Revolutionary New Jersey
Scandalous Hamiltons
rebels at sea
John Bradstreet's, 1758: A Riverine Operation of the French and Indian War
The Jewish World of Alexander Hamilton
vintage babes of broadway book
Mission Begin With Blood
Special Delivery book
killing time in the catskills
the soft city book

Secondary Sidebar

preservation league
Protect the Adirondacks Hiking Guide