THE ROUND HOUSE by Louise Erdrich

Finished Su 10/21/18

 The October, 2018 selection for The Contemporary Book Club

Ojibwe Indians; North Dakota

In broad strokes, an Indian woman is raped on the Indian Reservation.  Although she recovers from the attack, she is emotionally destroyed and becomes a recluse. Her 13 year old son and three of his friends try to right this injustice.  The book is meant as a 'cautionary tale' about 'Maze of Injustice'. One in three Indian women are raped at some time during their lives, and the perpetrators are overwhelmingly non-Native men. Vote- YES- for the Tribal Law and Order Act.

Link to the act-

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tribal_Law_and_Order_Act_of_2010

Amnesty International MAZE OF INJUSTICE-

https://www.amnestyusa.org/pdfs/mazeofinjustice.pdf

Joe- Father is a lawyer/ judge; expert on Indian matters. Mother- Geraldine

Cappy- Joe's closet friend. His father was Doe Lafournais was tribal chairman. Randall- Cap's brother was an Indian dancer and knowledgeable of Indian mysticism.

Zack- father a musician and always on tour. Mother ran the tribal newspaper. His stepdad, Vince Madwesin was the tribal police officer.

Angus- He's from the poorest part of the Reservation.

Clemence and Edward- Joe's aunt and uncle; they live close to Joe and are like second parents when Geraldine has her breakdown.

Pearl- Joe's dog; named after Janis Joplin.

Linden  Lark/ twin brother of Linda Wishkob (Lark). She works at the post office and was born very damaged. Her parents wanted to let her die.

Father Travis- Catholic priest; covered with scars from an explosion when he was a Marine. Handsome and very fit and cares about his congregation.

Mooshum- lives with Clemence and Edward; Joe's grandfather. Expert on The Indian Life- tells tales while he is asleep and Joe listens.

Sonja- a retired stripper and lives with Whitey. They run the local gas station/ store. The Lark family hates them because Sonja and Whitey got Lark's store and they lost everything.

Joe finds $40,000 in cash in a doll in a pond. The doll belonged to the baby that was abducted when Linden kidnapped the governor's girlfriend, Wolfskin. Linden did it to gain influence over the governor, Curtis Yeltow.

The only negative about the book is that it seems a little too much 'Young Adult', but still a very compelling read.