Tracks by Louise Erdrich

Set in North Dakota, at a time in the early 20th century when Indian tribes were struggling to keep what little remained of their lands, 'Tracks' is a tale of passion and deep unrest.

Holy Jesus. I'd had this on my shelf for two years, ever since I bought it for my Postcolonial lit class, only to have it dropped from the syllabus. I finally got around to reading it and Loved It. Her prose is stunning, exactly my favorite style of writing, and I love her sense of character. I didn't realize until after I read it that this was third in a “series”; I guess it is more like a prequel to her other books, which all use the same broad set of characters. It didn't matter at all that I read this one first, I still loved it.

There are some rich characters, beautiful displays of language, and interesting plot moments in Erdrich's Tracks. Unfortunately, there are also many characters and moments which drag on. In the end, I didn't think of this story as memorable, but Erdrich has strong potential, and I'll return to her someday for a another try.