about the book
It should have been simple. A terrible brutal act was committed; the criminal was identified; and justice should have prevailed. But justice, at times, is rarely just and seldom fair. This story, told by lawyer Joe Coutts, takes place in 1988, when he was just a thirteen-year-old boy living in the North Dakota Ojibwe community.
It was a summer day when Geraldine, his mother, was called to the sacred Round House. When she returned, Joe and his father barely recognized her. She was so badly beaten she could barely see. She had also been brutally raped. She refused to talk about the attack or identify her assailant and fell into depression. His father, tribal judge Antone Bazil Coult, became more and more determined to catch and punish the culprit. But the more the judge learned, the more complicated the situation grew.
If Geraldine was attacked on reservation land, the tribal courts would be in charge. But since the suspect was white, Federal law then applied. But the strip of land where the crime may have occurred might have been part of the state park system, so the state of North Dakota became responsible. Finally, because the land may have been part of a parcel sold by the tribe, it was considered “fee land” and was therefore governed under several other tangled statues.
While the authorities dragged their feet and it seemed the attacker might go free, Joe and his three buddies take matters into their own hands. Thrown into an adult world of violence, young Joe finds that revenge came at a tragic price. His actions left him filled with indescribable sadness and guilt.
For years after, Joe questioned what makes a person turn violent—and what society should do with that person. His story chronicles how one brutal act had disastrous effects on his life, his family, and the whole community.
about the author
Louise Erdrich is the daughter of a German-American father named Ralph who married a half French-American and half Ojibwa woman named Rita. They taught at a boarding school in Wahpeton, North Dakota, which had been set up by the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Louise’s maternal grandfather was the tribal chairman for the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians.
Louise and her younger sisters were paid a nickel by their father for every story they wrote for him. No wonder she turned into an author! Her sisters write and publish poetry and children’s books, as well as short fiction and essays.
Her dual heritage of European-American and Ojibwa Native American is a big part of Louise’s life, and most of her stories have to do with the interaction of the two different cultures, or focus on the quirks and unique delights of each separate culture. Her fans will be happy to learn that for her award-winning book The Round House, Louise brings back some of her very memorable characters from previous novels—especially the comical 112 year-old Mooshum and the ever so slightly raunchy Grandmothers.
Aside from her writing, Louise owns the Birchbark Books bookstore in Minneapolis, and she and her sisters teach writing workshops on the Turtle Mountain Indian Reservation in North Dakota.
Source:
Author biography : Voices from the Gaps
Author news : Bring Me the News
Author biography : BookBrowse
Author blog : Birchbark Books
Also by Louise Erdrich:
Shadow Tag. Harper Collins. 2010.
The Plague of Doves. Harper Collins. 2008.
The Painted Drum. Harper Collins. 2005.
The Master Butchers Singing Club. Harper Collins. 2003.
The Last Report of the Miracles at Little No Horse. Harper Collins. 2001.
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