A challenging book with a satisfying conclusion.

I’ll admit, I found it really hard to stick with this one. It covers some really difficult topics, and starts so hard, that I found myself eager to read anything but this. I heard someone recently describe some authors as being very talented but their work was so difficult emotionally, almost too devastating to read. They were describing Iris Murdoch (who I feel very differently about), but I’m starting to feel that way at times about Louise Erdrich. Her work is essential, meaningful, giving voice to forgotten stories and overlooked history through deeply realized characters, but damn, it is hard to sit with. It’s not light reading.

I think LaRose felt like one of her most complete and balanced books to me. It’s expertly plotted, structured, and streamlined. No character or event is superfluous, and I felt immensely rewarded in making it to the end. All the threads of plot, historical and contemporary, came together. Every character was necessary to support the whole, and their arcs all made sense as they’d been carefully laid out throughout.

This felt on par with other standalone novels of hers, like The Round House and The Night Watchman. I’m still hoping to read The Sentence later this year.