NATIONAL BESTSELLER • “It takes a rare individual not only to see that history can live, but also to make it live for others. James Thom has that gift.”—The Indianapolis News

Follow the River: A Novel by James Alexander Thom tells the story of Mary Ingles, who at twenty-three was happily married and expecting her third child when Shawnee Indians invaded her peaceful Virginia settlement in 1755 and kidnapped her, leaving behind a bloody massacre. For months she was held captive but nothing could imprison her spirit.

Guided by the rushing Ohio River, Mary Ingles walked one thousand miles through an untamed wilderness that no white woman had ever seen before. Her journey is an extraordinary testimony to the indomitable strength of one pioneer woman who risked her life to return to her own people. This 416-page novel published on November 12, 1986 by Ballantine Books offers a gripping account of resilience and determination in the face of unimaginable adversity.