The Plague of Doves by Louise Erdrich (2008)
The Plague of Doves begins with the murder of a family in 1911 by an unknown assailant. Only a baby survives. The farm in which the family lived abutted the Ojibwe land, in North Dakota. Some of the whites in the area sought to avenge the murder and lynched several Native Americans, including a young boy known at Holy Track, due to the crosses he wore in his shoes.
The novel moves back and forth throughout the present day and the time of the murder. It also moves from the lives and interactions of Native Americans and the neighboring white community. Each chapter is also told in various voices. Eveline Harp is the primary narrator. We first meet her when she is a young girl. She knows nothing of the murder that took place years before her birth. Her Native American grandfather, Mooshum, tells her the story of the crime and subsequent lynching.
The story started out with a bang, but fell apart at the end, which was I found unsatisfying.
Read: December 23, 2009
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