Harvest Moon
By Jenny Knipfer
By Jenny Knipfer
In the wilds of 19th century Ontario, Maang-ikwe, a young Ojibwe woman, falls into a forbidden love, breaks her father’s honor, and surrenders her trust to someone who betrays it. The abuse she suffers divides her from her tribe and causes her to give up what she holds most dear.
Niin-mawin must come to grips with his culture being ripped away from him. Brought up in a “white man’s” school, he suffers through an enforced “civilized” education and separation from his family. When a man he respects reveals a secret about Niin-mawin’s past, he embarks on a search for the person he hopes can mend the part of his heart that’s always been missing.
Both Maang-ikwe and Niin-mawin wonder how a harvest of pain and sorrow will impact their lives. Will they find the blessings amongst the hardships, or will they allow the results of division and abuse to taint their hearts forever?
Fans of historical fiction, Native American fiction, Christian historical fiction, clean romance, and literary fiction will be moved by this deep, heartfelt novel.
Publication Date: 23rd November, 2020
Publisher: Independently Published
Page Length: 291 Pages
Genre: Historical Fiction / Christian Historical Fiction
Praise for Harvest Moon
“A moving and authentic work or historical fiction, while this series is a testament to Knipfer's skilled and versatile storytelling.”
Self-Publishing Review
“Knipfer does an outstanding job of cementing place, time, and culture against the backdrop of evolving relationships.”
D. Donavon for Midwest Book Review
The Historical setting of Harvest Moon
What drew me first to the setting for my whole series, By the Light of the Moon, was Lake Superior. It’s my favorite place to visit, and it borders my home state of Wisconsin. In a couple-hour-trip we can get to The Great Lake. I’ve dipped my toes in the Atlantic and the Pacific, but neither beats out my love for Superior.
My fascination with Lake Superior started as a girl. My folks and I would visit my uncle and aunt in the UP of Michigan. They lived right by the lake, and I have many good memories of scouring their portion of Superior’s eastern shoreline with them. We hunted for agates, which my uncle would then make into jewelry.
My French-Canadian, Métis heritage also played a part in why I chose this setting. I’ve always been intrigued by my native heritage and wanted to explore what it might have been like to have lived back in the late1800’s—my favorite time period to read about. Although I am part Sioux, I chose my husband’s partial heritage of Ojibwe (pronounced Oh-jib-way) to build characters for my books. The Ojibwe historically settled in the region surrounding Lake Superior, and at one time had their tribal headquarters on Madeline Island, surrounded by Laker Superior. So my stories began with this background.
In Harvest Moon I have some portions of the story taking place close to Lake Nipigon, an hour or so straight north of Lake Superior, where a First Nation Peoples—how Canada refers to their native, Métis, or Inuit population—reservation had historically been.
Currently, the Red Rock Ojibwe bands—which I have my characters a part of—reside mostly around Grand Portage, Minnesota and Northwestern Ontario in the Lake Helen Reserve by Lake Nipigon.
I hope my visits to the area and the research I did makes the setting of Harvest Moon come to life for readers. I didn’t just imagine it; I’ve been there.
Excerpt
Early summer 1863
Maang-ikwe “Loon Woman”
Here I am in this new place Webaashi Bay, a place of wind and water. The Great Sea—Gitchi-gami—beats against the rocks with the force of a large hand beating a drum. The bruised blue color of the sky reflects the waves’ power. A storm steeps. I wish a storm could rage in me, but my heart has been blown away, back to Nipigon, the pines, and my son.
My arms ache from the emptiness of Niin-mawin’s absence. Gibba’s arms hold him now. I want to sob, but I have cried all the tears I have. I sowed my tears in our eighty-mile journey.
1879
Near Lake Nipigon
Niin-mawin “She Cries for Him”
The red-headed man has finally told me his secret. He has come every year since I was five. I don’t remember how it all started, but I began to look forward to his visits. He always brings a gift with him. This last time was a suit of clothes.
I’ve now finished my studies at school. I wanted to try to get into university—one that will let Anishinaabe in—but now I don’t know. I don’t think such an institution exists.
How unsolid the world under my feet is. Now that I know the truth of who I am. I am his son, and the woman I thought my cousin is my maamaa.
Just the right rock calls to me. I crouch and finger the worn, smooth spots on its oblong surface. Its weight rests in my hand for a few seconds, before I hurl the cold, blue stone into the lake and turn and walk towards home. My feet catch in the scrubby border of the pebbly shore. Evening approaches over Lake Nipigon, and the sky, the color of a beaver’s tooth, burns at the edge of the horizon in the last rays of the sun.
Why did she not want me?
The question shadows every other thought in my mind and wounds my soul.
He—Captain Lorrie—could not tell me. Neither would Gibba nor the man I thought had fathered me.
Only she can tell me. Only she knows.
I’ve seen Maang-ikwe only once, when I was five summers; Gibba was sick. We thought she would die, but she didn’t. Maang-ikwe gave her mashkiki. The medicine restored Gibba to life. I remember my mother’s bold, black eyes and her pointed chin. My chin. The old women whispered her name as if she were a spirit.
To me she is a spirit, but someday I will see her and ask her the questions which burden me. Someday soon…
Jenny Knipfer
Spending many years as a librarian in a local public library, Jenny recently switched to using her skills as a floral designer in a retail flower shop. She is now retired from work due to disability. Her education background stems from psychology, music, and cultural missions.
Her By the Light of the Moon series earned five-star reviews from Readers’ Favorite, a book review and award contest company. Their praise: “Ruby Moon is entertaining, fast-paced, and features characters that are real. Blue Moon continues a well-written and highly engaging saga of family ties, betrayals, and heartaches. Silver Moon is a highly recommended read for fans of historical wartime fiction, powerful emotive drama, and excellent atmospheric writing. Harvest Moon is probably one of the best historical fiction novels I have ever read. I have come away deep in thought, feeling somewhat like I’ve had a mystical experience and one I will never forget.”
She holds membership in the: Midwest Independent Booksellers Association, Wisconsin Writers Association, Christian Indie Publishing Association, and Independent Book Publishers Association.
Jenny’s favorite place to relax is by the western shore of Lake Superior, where her novel series, By The Light of the Moon, is set. She is currently writing a new historical fiction series entitled, Sheltering Trees. The first title in that series, In a Grove of Maples,—inspired by the lives of her grandparents in the late 1890’s—is slated for fall of 2021.
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Thanks so much for posting about Harvest Moon and the tour!
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