Helpful Score: 4
One of her best. It is a bit slow going in the first chapter, but qucikly picks up speed - fascinating story w. memorable characters
Helpful Score: 4
Great discussion in our book group. Erdrich's characters are captivating. She is a wonderful storyteller.
Louise Erdrich is a Native American author of novels, poetry, and children's books featuring Native American characters and settings. She is an enrolled citizen of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians of North Dakota, a federally recognized Ojibwe people. She is a prolific author and in 2021, she was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for her novel The Night Watchman. I have read a few of her novels including The Night Watchman and always find them to be vivid portrayals of Native American life.
In THE PAINTED DRUM, Faye Travers, of mixed ethnic origin including Native American, is living in New Hampshire along with her mother, Elsie. They work together in Elsie's estate business where they buy artifacts after the passing of a family. At one such location, Faye comes upon a beautiful painted drum, a very powerful Native American object. This was found at the home of a family that descended from a former Indian Agent who had amassed a collection of artifacts. Since the family was white, Faye feels justified in taking the drum which she feels was stolen and returning to its rightful owners, the Ojibwe in North Dakota. The novel goes on to tell the story of the drum from its origins to the present and how it had affected the people who have come in contact with it.
This was a very moving novel telling of the hardships associated with the drum and especially how children were affected by their very hard lives in the cold and wildness of North Dakota. Erdrich shows the world of traditions and ancestry including both humans and animals such as wolves and ravens. I'll definitely be looking forward to reading more of Erdrich.
In THE PAINTED DRUM, Faye Travers, of mixed ethnic origin including Native American, is living in New Hampshire along with her mother, Elsie. They work together in Elsie's estate business where they buy artifacts after the passing of a family. At one such location, Faye comes upon a beautiful painted drum, a very powerful Native American object. This was found at the home of a family that descended from a former Indian Agent who had amassed a collection of artifacts. Since the family was white, Faye feels justified in taking the drum which she feels was stolen and returning to its rightful owners, the Ojibwe in North Dakota. The novel goes on to tell the story of the drum from its origins to the present and how it had affected the people who have come in contact with it.
This was a very moving novel telling of the hardships associated with the drum and especially how children were affected by their very hard lives in the cold and wildness of North Dakota. Erdrich shows the world of traditions and ancestry including both humans and animals such as wolves and ravens. I'll definitely be looking forward to reading more of Erdrich.
We begin and end with two women, mother and daughter, who appraise estates for a living. Daughter Faye finds an Ojibwe moose-skin and cedar drum and she recognizes it as something with a history and of value that cannot be bought. She decides to rescue it.
We then learn, bit by bit, how the drum came to be and how it figured in so many lives over time. The stories are told with the usual sensitivity and care that have come to characterize Louse Erdrich's writing. It is fulfilling and illuminating.
We then learn, bit by bit, how the drum came to be and how it figured in so many lives over time. The stories are told with the usual sensitivity and care that have come to characterize Louse Erdrich's writing. It is fulfilling and illuminating.
Definitely one of her best. Very thought provoking.
Interesting story!
This is a softcover advanced reader's edition, it has some markings and a couple of typos which take nothing away from this wonderful book. The hard cover edition will be published in September. It is Louise Erdrich's newest book in the Native American series. If you have read any of her previous books in this series you already know what a treat it is to read her work. I loved this book.
If you select this book please read and repost or pass along to a friend as it is marked NOT FOR SALE and I would like that to be honored.
If you select this book please read and repost or pass along to a friend as it is marked NOT FOR SALE and I would like that to be honored.
While appraising the estate of a New Hampshire family descended from a North Dakota Indian agent, Faye Travers is startled to discover a rare moose skin and cedar drum fashioned long ago by an Ojibwe artisan. And so begins an illuminating journey both backward and forward in time, following the strange passage of a powerful yet delicate instrument, and revealing the extraordinary lives it has touched and defined. Compelling and unforgettable, Louise Erdrich's Painted Drum explores the often fraught relationship between mothers and daughters, the strength of family, and the intricate rhythms of grief with all the grace, wit, and startling beauty that characterizes this acclaimed author's finest work.
National Bestseller
