Brimming with adventure, romance and the peaks and valleys of the human spirit, The Wolf and the Willow is a historical novel of first contact between Indigenous peoples and Spanish conquistadors. The prequel to Windigo Moon, Willow, a house slave of Black and Arab descent, is swept into the 1528 expedition of conquistador Panfilo de Narvaez, who hoped to colonize Florida and find native cities brimming with gold. After a disastrous journey through the New World, she encounters Wolf, a trader, storyteller, and spy for the shamans of the Ojibwe people. Wolf is on a mission down the Mississippi to find a mythical animal for his uncles among the shamans. Together, Willow and Wolf must overcome their brutal captors during a voyage through the vibrant Indian civilizations along the Mississippi, searching for a golden empire amid the ancient ruins of Cahokia, near present-day St. Louis. ” The Wolf and The Willow” offers a glimpse into the culture of many tribes, including the Anishinaabek, Tionontati, Haudenosaunee (Iroquois), Dakota Sioux, Mandans, Caddo, and the Mound Builder civilization of the Mississippi River Valley.
Author Spotlight
About Robert Downes
Author and world traveler Robert (Bob) Downes has been inspiring readers to pursue their dreams of travel and adventure for more than three decades. A resident of Traverse City, Michigan, Downes, 66, is the author of three nonfiction books: “Planet Backpacker” (2008),” Biking Northern Michigan” (2014), and “I Promised You Adventure“ (2018). His historical novel, “Windigo Moon,” was published by Blank Slate Press in 2017. His thriller, “Bicycle Hobo” was published in 2018 by The Wandering Press. A native of Grand Rapids, Michigan, Downes earned a B.A. in journalism from Wayne State University in Detroit in 1976.
Thereafter, he worked as a reporter and editor at newspapers in metro Detroit, with a stint in hospital public relations in the 1980s. In 1991, Downes and his best friend, George Foster, launched the alternative newsweekly, “Northern Express Weekly” in Traverse City. Although the first rough issues were created in his kitchen on a primitive 30-meg Mac Plus computer, the publication was an instant hit with readers and went on to become northern Michigan’s largest weekly newspaper with a readership of more than 75,000 covering a radius of more than 150 miles of the region.
Downes served as editor and co-publisher of the newsweekly for 22 years until its sale in December, 2013. Under his leadership, the publication earned numerous Michigan Press Association awards, including the highest honor for “General Excellence.”
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