Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer Among the Indians, written partially by Mark Twain, but finished by Utah author Lee Nelson, has won first place for historical fiction in Foreword Magazine’s book of the year award competition.
The Mark Twain Foundation and the University of California Press authorized Nelson to complete Twain’s sequel to The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, a copyrighted work begun by Mark Twain in 1885, but never finished, until now.
Foreword Magazine reaches 28,000 bookstores and libraries with information and reviews on new books published primarily by independent publishers, including academic presses.
The Book of the Year Awards were established in 1998 to focus librarian and bookseller attention on the literary achievements of independent publishers and their authors. The selection process takes into account editorial excellence, professional production, narrative originality, author credentials, and the value the title adds to the category. Gold, silver, and bronze winners are named in each category.
In this winning work, Nelson picks up where Twain left off, following the lovesick Huck Finn across a continent, seeking to rescue the woman he loves, escaping hostile Indians, confronting renegade trappers, learning to survive at the feet of notorious Mormon gunfighters Bill Hickman and Porter Rockwell, eventually ending up in Sacramento, California.
“I couldn’t tell where Mark Twain stopped and Lee Nelson began,” said Angie Harris of Provo, after reading the story. Publisher Lyle Mortimer of Cedar Fort in Springville said everyone who reads the story says the same thing.
Lee Nelson has published more than thirty books, most of them historical novels about Utah and the American west. The Utah State legislature recently named Nelson a State Treasure for his research and writing about Utah and western history.
One research project included killing a bull buffalo from the back of a galloping horse with a bow and arrow when Nelson began his ten-volume Storm Testament series. He crossed the flood-swollen waters of the Green River fourteen times on horseback while describing the wilderness travels of Ute chief Walkara, and he learned the rodeo sport of team roping while writing about the early cowboy life of Butch Cassidy.
“Co-authoring a book with Mark Twain, possibly the greatest American author ever, is a profound honor,” Nelson said. “I am in debt to the Mark Twain Foundation for allowing me to do this, and I just hope that wherever Sam Clemens is, he ain’t too unhappy with what I done to finish his story.”
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