Celebrate Lit / March 5, 2026

The Caregiver at Wounded Knee

About the Book The Caregiver at Wounded Knee

Book: The Caregiver at Wounded Knee (Enduring Hope Book 4)

Author: Debby Lee

Genre: Christian Historical Fiction

Release Date: February, 2026

Past and Present Collide on the Railway

When life seems weighed down by challenges, there are always pillars of enduring hope and love to be discovered.

Lily Mae Dodge flees Wyoming by night to find her mother, who sent her west on an orphan train ten years ago. After she’s arrested in Chicago, help comes from a man with a rare vision impairment whom she had just met on a train. Francis Basnett is a roustabout for the famous Hagenbeck-Wallace circus, where he helps Lily gain employment.

Their friendship grows into more, and it seems Lily is closer than ever to finding her mother. . .until the night a rogue troop train slams into the stalled circus train, killing dozens and splintering hope.

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My Thoughts on The Caregiver at Wounded Knee

The Caregiver at Wounded Knee is a wonderful historical fiction novel with some romance thrown in for good measure. This is book four in a series. While you don’t have to read the entire series in order, it is always best to read more books than less so of course read book one first and then book two, etc etc.

Rose Rushing Water is our heroine. She’s an Ogalalla who went East to be trained as a nurse. She has two brothers. One who wants to cling to the old ways while fighting the government and one who wants to please and obey the government.

Nathaniel Gray Cloud is the tribal policeman. He wants to keep the peace while supporting his sister who also clings to the old ways.

Things are moving along and tension is high. Will peace be had or will death come calling?

This book takes you to Wounded Knee Creek in South Dakota and the massacre that happened. You’ll get a unique perspective through this novel. I highly recommend you read this one.

I have voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book, which I received from Celebrate Lit. All views expressed are only my honest opinion. I was not required to write a positive review, nor was I compensated in any other way. All opinions expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the FTC regulations.

About the Author of The Caregiver at Wounded Knee

Debby Lee was raised in the cozy little town of Toledo, Washington. She has been writing since she was a small child, and has written several novels, but never forgets home. The Northwest Christian Writers Association and Romance Writers of America are two organizations that Debby enjoys being a part of.

As a self-proclaimed nature lover and an avid listener of 1960’s folk music, Debby can’t help but feel like a hippie child who wasn’t born soon enough to attend Woodstock. She wishes she could run barefoot all year long, but often does anyway in the grass and on the beaches in her hamlet that is the cold and rainy southwest Washington. During football season, Debby cheers on the Seattle Seahawks along with legions of other devoted fans. She’s also filled with wanderlust and dreams of visiting Denmark, Italy, and Morocco someday.

More from Debby

A crime against humanity occurred more than one hundred years ago, a massacre that still resonates and haunts people to this day. I’m referring to the massacre at Wounded Knee Creek, the slaying of hundreds of men, women and children, their lifeless bodies left on the frozen ground surrounding this small, winding body of water.

In writing my novel, The Caregiver at Wounded Knee, I travelled to the Pine Ridge Reservation in southwest South Dakota. In late April, the grasslands had not yet drunk enough water or basked in enough sun to turn themselves green. Even so, I was taken in by the evocative beauty of the land. I noted the rolling hills that seemed to stretch on and on as if they wished to reach out and touch the tip of eternity.

As I drove to the site of the massacre, I passed White Clay Creek.

My characters, Rose and Nathaniel, have a picnic along the banks of this creek. It’s the place where Rose flees to after witnessing the massacre, where she struggles to cope with the traumatic aftermath. Thankfully, Rose and Nathaniel create more happy memories there.

I included two real people in my novel, Doctor Charles Eastman and Elaine Goodale. Dr Eastman, by the way, was a real person, his Indian name being Ohiyesa. He was educated in the East and graduated from medical school. He married Elaine Goodale, a school teacher from Massachusetts. Together, they operated a clinic in the community of Pine Ridge and were in many scenes throughout my novel.

When I reached the site where the massacre occurred, I couldn’t help but notice how big an area the site encompassed. The creek itself surprised me. It wasn’t as deep or wide as I thought it would be, and the banks leading to the water were fairly steep in some places. It looked serene and almost peaceful, but I thought, Oh, if those waters could talk.

I stood on a hilltop where I’m told a Catholic church had once stood, and I gazed across the plateau below where the Lakota people were camped. I tried to picture the area where the soldiers were stationed, along with their Hotchkiss guns, which looked like small cannons to me.

What went through the hearts and minds of the Lakota people?

I tried to imagine how the stomachs of Rose and those of her tribe were knotted with hunger, how cold they were as the icy wind swept over the land, how frightened they must have been as they were surrounded by soldiers with, Lord knows, what kind of nefarious intentions.

And I cried. I more than cried. I wept. I shed what felt like a gallon of tears for the injustice perpetrated against this tribe, for native people everywhere.

The military was confiscating the Lakota weapons when gunfire ensued. Hundreds of women and children fell, wounded, dying, or dead. It’s been said they were simply caught in the crossfire.

And yet the body of a woman, who was shot in the back, was found by Dr Eastman more than a mile from the site. Likely chased down and shot by the 7^th Cavalry. Eight or nine young schoolboys, who were returning to boarding school, were playing on a slope nearby. They were no older than ten. They were all shot dead. An estimated 300 Lakota men, women and children were killed; compared to 31 Army soldiers, many of whom died from friendly fire.

After the massacre, the bodies of the dead were buried in a mass grave at the top of a small hill.

I added a scene where Rose and her brother visit the site to pay their respects. It wasn’t easy for her to return to the scene of such trauma, but in her mind, it was necessary.

The long rectangle-shaped grave is now outlined with concrete and is surrounded by resting places of many other members of the Lakota tribe. A monument has been placed there, engraved with the names of many of the victims.

There are signs on the Pine Ridge Reservation offering directions to those who want to visit the site. If you’re ever passing through, I recommend a stop there. I know I will be forever changed by the time I spend traversing this hallowed ground.