The Sentence by Louise Erdrich

 

Tookie hasn't always had a life this good.  After a desperate childhood, she grew up only to be tricked by a friend and ended up in a federal prison for years.  But these days are better.  She is married to Pollux, who was the police officer, also Native American, who arrested her and has a stepdaughter, Hetta with whom she has a delicate relationship.  Best of all, she has a job in Birchbark, the real-life bookstore owned by Louise Erdrich and good friends from the other employees.  Tookie got through her imprisonment by reading and she now delights in recommending titles to her customers.

But things always change.  The change in Tookie's life begins when Flora dies.  Flora was a white woman who was constantly in Birchbark.  She also desperately wanted to be Native American and spent time and money trying to find a connection.  Now even in death she refuses to leave.  She begins to haunt the bookstore and Tookie in particular.  This is not a benign haunting; she wants to take over Tookie's body and life.

Other things are amiss in the environment in Minnesota.  Police kill George Floyd and the world explodes.  There are days of protests which become violent.  Hetta, who had returned home with a surprise baby, is drawn into the protests, as are Pollux and Tookie and her friends.  The days of police violence against people of color are now front page news rather than hidden.  

Louise Erdrich is one of my favorite authors and this novel does not disappoint.  Tookie is an interesting character, haunted by her past, happy with her present but unsure if happiness can ever remain.  Pollux was my favorite character and his love for Tookie blazes from the pages.  The story of Flora and her attempted appropriation of a background that isn't hers is reminiscent of characters in the news.  The riot scenes after the death of George Floyd are vivid and take the reader into that dangerous, violent environment.  Readers get an extra bonus when Erdrich ends the book with a reading list of her favorite books.  This book is recommended for literary fiction readers and those interested in reading about the lives of Native Americans.