“Lucid and engaging, The Blue Tattoo contextualizes Olive Oatman’s life by delving into Mohave culture and history (including interviews with contemporary Mohaves) and by explaining why her story captured the American popular imagination and continued to be retold and revisited so many times, in so many different media.”—Kathryn Zabelle Derounian-Stodola, editor of Women’s Indian Captivity Narratives

“Mifflin’s treatment of Olive’s sojourns [provides] an excellent teaching opportunity about America’s ongoing captivation with ethnic/gender crossings.”—Western American Literature

“Mifflin engagingly describes Oatman’s ordeal and theorizes about its impact on Oatman herself as well as on popular imagination. … Her book adds nuance to Oatman’s story and also humanizes the Mohave who adopted her. Recommended for general readers as well as students and scholars.”—Library Journal

“One can read this work of non-fiction as if it were a sensational novel—with progressive feminist implications.”—Irish Times.com

“The book’s already received rave reviews, and for good reason. … A fascinating dose of both tattoo and American history.”—Tattoo History

“Although Oatman’s story on its own is full of intrigue, Mifflin adeptly uses her tale as a springboard for larger issues of the time.”—Feminist Review

“Margot Mifflin is a great storyteller. … The Blue Tattoo is well written and well researched; it re-opens the story of white women and men going West and Native people trying to survive these travels.”—June Namias, Pacific Historical Review

“Mifflin catches the poignancy of this story that manages to combine the conquest of the West, life among its victims, and the national myths that justified it.”—Doubleday Book Club

“Margot Mifflin slices away the decades of mythology and puts the story in its proper historical context. What emerges is a riveting, well-researched portrait of a young woman—a survivor, but someone marked for life by the experience.”—Tucson Weekly

“Extremely well written, The Blue Tattoo is unquestionably a significant contribution to Oatman studies. Mifflin’s claims, close readings, and use of primary resources are engaging. We recommend The Blue Tattoo to students, specialists, and general readers of the history of the American Southwest.”—Overland Journal