Louise Erdrich's The Night Watchman
The titular watchman is inspired by Erdrich's own grandfather, who fought the US government's efforts to dispossess/disband American's indigenous tribes. I found his story really compelling! There are a few other narrative strains, though, predominately that of Pixie, a young relative of the watchman's, who's trying to find her missing sister, sort out her lovelife, and keep her traditions alive. We also get to know a young local boxer, his (white) coach, a grad student, and various other community members and ghosts. I mostly enjoyed this a lot (ok, some of the stuff with Pixie and her sister is super stressful, trigger warnings ahoy), but it didn’t entirely come together for me. I still think Erdrich is one of our great American writers, of course, and this novel sheds a lot of light on a pivotal moment of our history. A-.
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A review copy was provided by the publisher. This book will be released in March.
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