Two Feathers Fell from the Sky is a novel published by Margaret Verble in 2021. When this novel was initially published, America was undergoing a very strange period in its history in which somehow the teaching of historical facts to schoolchildren had become an issue of contention. Even though almost no school in the country was actually teaching something called “critical race theory” as an established part of the curriculum, a small but loud and violent group of people opposed to the fundamental precepts of teaching facts about slavery and racism had managed to make themselves into a powerful force.
Those who find that particular force a thing of admiration are hereby advised to not read When Two Feathers Fell from the Sky. The main thrust of the complex weaving of narrative threads in this book essentially comes down to one singularly easy to understand message: You can’t run from the ugly parts of American history because, no matter where you turn and try to hide, the remnants will still surround you.
It is difficult to explain this thematic thrust of the novel without giving things away which are much better left unspoiled. A good deal of the enjoyment that comes from reading the novel is the remarkable felicity with which the author begins a novel that seems like it is going to be a great horse story that gradually becomes a story about the inescapable presence of America’s historically documented and uninterrupted run of systemic racism toward those who are not of white/European descent. As the narrative unfolds, the exciting adventure of a Cherokee girl named Two Feathers and the remarkable horse she rides forty feet through the air into a pool of water becomes something even more exciting: a historical mystery. At times, due to the background of an amusement park/zoo and a cast of eccentric characters, the story almost starts to feel like a Scooby Doo episode, but this comparison is meant to be taken entirely in a positive way. It is not to suggest silliness, but rather to convey the sense of being caught up in a seemingly fantastical mystery that ends with a metaphorical unmasking of a truly villainous mastermind.
To reveal that villain would not only be a disservice to the hard work the author has put into creating her tale, but it would also rile up some elements of the population at the time who did not just wish to control what was taught in schools, but literally burn books that challenged their whitewashed mythic view of America.
A story that features a scrappy heroine like Two Feathers and a tragically doomed equine heroine like Ocher does not deserve to be burned for any reason. It certainly does not deserve to be burned for being a fictional tale inspired by legions of historically factual stories fueling the reality behind it. As Ray Bradbury could attest, once one starts burning textbooks for the facts they relate it is but a hop and skip to burning novels for the ideas they relate inspired by those facts. There was a time when it would have seemed impossible for When Two Feathers Fell from the Sky to be considered a particularly controversial novel. That time had already passed by the date of publication though, six months later, it was still managing to fly under the radar of the loudest and most outspoken members of the anti-fact movement sweeping the country at the time.
