Ratings7
Average rating4.3
Landreaux Iron stalks a deer along the edge of the property bordering his own. He shoots with easy confidence -- but when the buck springs away, Landreaux realizes he's hit something else. When he staggers closer, he realizes he has killed his neighbor's five-year-old son, Dusty. The youngest child of his friend and neighbor, Peter Ravich, Dusty was best friends with Landreaux's five-year-old son, LaRose. The two families have always been close, sharing food, clothing, and rides into town; their children played together despite going to different schools; and Landreaux's wife, Emmaline, is half sister to Dusty's mother, Nola. Horrified at what he's done, the recovered alcoholic turns to an Ojibwe tribe tradition -- the sweat lodge -- for guidance, and finds a way forward. Following an ancient means of retribution, he and Emmaline will give LaRose to the grieving Peter and Nola. "Our son will be your son now," they tell them.
Reviews with the most likes.
Really well written. I'd never read anything about the Ojibwe people, it was fascinating.
Erdrich is wonderful, but this one doesn't do a lot for me. The premise–a man gives his son to the couple whose son he accidentally killed–is definitely compelling, and there are fine moments throughout, but mostly it's a disappointment: slow, lacking suspense (until the “climax”), an Iago-like character who is too unbelievable, some big issues (like the war in Iraq) that are raised and then dropped, etc.