Maybe it was because I read this one immediately following Tales of Burning Love, so I was more completely immersed in Erdrich-ness than I have been, yet, in this reading project. Or, maybe its more prominent air of mysticism charmed me from the first whiff. Either way, I loved
The tales are told by Jack Mauser’s wives. Lest you think this could make for a short read, there are five of them. Four of those times, Jack married for love. You might guess what the fifth occasion was, but I bet you wouldn’t have worked a toothache into
If The Cat’s Table (2011) was a slow and steady unravelling of a young boy’s memories, yarn taut and tidy, Warlight is a mass of moth-eaten fragments, remnants of a finely-crafted woollen garment pulled from a trunk. A thing of beauty, yes, but the devastation is the first thing
It’s as if Billy, from “The End of the World”, had heard the tragic story of Shirley and Pete Higgins and used it to justify his reluctance to leave Canada. Unlike Billy, Shirley and Pete were thrilled to honeymoon in Europe, thrilled by all the ordinary things made extraordinary
It’s a hot and overcast August morning, too early for the neighbourhood to have awakened. On another morning it might seem peaceful; this morning it feels abandoned. The grass in the park next door is patchy and dry, even though the humidity is high and a woman with two
