MURPHY, Garth

PERSONAL: Male. Education: Attended University of California—Santa Barbara, and University of California—San Diego.

ADDRESSES: Agent—c/o Author Mail, Simon & Schuster, 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020.

CAREER: Historian and songwriter.

WRITINGS:

The Indian Lover, Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 2002.

SIDELIGHTS: Garth Murphy's first novel The Indian Lover was a fifteen-year project. In the book, Bill Marshall, who grew up in Rhode Island, and his friend Pablo, a Christian Native American living in California, find themselves in California after working for several years on a whaling ship. The year is 1845 and Bill falls in love with the area and also with the mayor's daughter, who rejects him. Bill decides to marry the local Indian chief's daughter and become part of their tribe. At the same time he manages a ranch for white settlers. Soon a war between Mexico and America breaks out over the ownership of California, and Bill must decide which side he supports. A Kirkus Reviews contributor called it "an engaging account of an often-overlooked period." Booklist contributor Joanne Wilkinson described The Indian Lover as "an exhilarating adventure story that also imparts a full-bodied picture of a long-vanished way of life and a little-known historic conflict."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, November 15, 2002, Joanne Wilkinson, review of The Indian Lover, p. 576.

Kirkus Reviews, October 15, 2002, review of TheIndian Lover, p. 1499.

Library Journal, November 1, 2002, Kathy Piehl, review of The Indian Lover, p. 130.

Publishers Weekly, November 11, 2002, review of TheIndian Lover, p. 43.

ONLINE

RomanceReadersConnection.com,http://www.theromancereadersconnection.com/ (January 28, 2003), review of The Indian Lover.*