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By Susan Power. "A major talent debuts with this beguiling novel whose characters are
Dakota Sioux and their spirit ancestors. Covering some of the same
themes as Louise Erdrich but displaying her own distinctive voice and
transcendent imagination, Power has produced an authentic portrait of
Native American culture and characters who are as resilient and
tangible as the grass moving over the Great Plains. In interconnected
stories that begin in 1981 and range back to 1864, the residents of a
Sioux reservation endure poverty, epidemic illness, injustice and--no
less importantly--jealousy, greed, anger and unrequited love. The tales
begin and end with Harley Wind Soldier, a 17-year-old whose soul is a
"black, empty hole" because his mother has not spoken a word since the
accident 17 years earlier in which Harley's father and brother died.
Eventually we discover the true circumstances surrounding that event
and other secrets--of clandestine love affairs, of childrens'
paternity--that stretch back several generations but hold a grip on the
present. Meanwhile, Harley falls in love with enchanting Pumpkin, an
amazingly adept grass dancer whose fate will make readers gasp. Mercury
Thunder and her daughter Anna use magic in a sinister way, and tragedy
results. Herod Small War, a Yuwipi (interpreter of dreams), tries to
bring his community into harmony with the spiritual world. The
existence of ghosts in the real world is accepted with calm belief by
the characters, who know the old legends and understand that the
direction of their lives is determined by their gods and ancestors.
Power weaves historical events--the Apollo Moon landing; the
19th-century Great Plains drought--into her narrative, reinforcing the
seamless coexistence of the real and the spirit realm. A consummate
storyteller whose graceful prose is plangent with lyrical metaphor and
sensuous detail, she deftly uses suspense, humor, irony and the gradual
revelation of dramatic disclosures to compose a tapestry of human life.
Seduced by her humane vision and its convincing depiction, one absorbs
the traditions and lore of the Sioux community with a sense of wonder
reflecting that with which the characters view the natural world. This
is a book that begs to be read at one sitting, and then again." -- Publishers Weekly.
Softcover; 352 pages.
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