Love Medicine [Paperback]

The stories reveal fifty years in the lives of the Kashpaw and Lamartine families from the 1930s to the 1980s, as they interact, intermarry, and ultimately try to figure out who they have become. Through her selection of details and her often lyrical descriptions, Erdrich creates vibrant local settings within which her characters tell their stories in lively, colloquial voices. Emotional, matter-of-fact, tormented, and sometimes angry, the characters are equally well drawn for both men and women.

The separate stories of Marie and Nector Kashpaw, which come together when they marry, occupy much of the very early years covered by the collection, but their stories also involve Lulu Lamartine, with whom Nector has a long affair. In the 1980s, Marie and Nector's "grandson," Lipsha Morrissey, tries to create a "love medicine" for his elderly grandparents in an old age home, a story filled with ironies and, ultimately, dark humor. Between these stories are the stories of other children, their parents, and their friends, as they try to deal with the immediate aftermath of war, the harshness of the prison system, unemployment, and poverty.

As the characters overlap and interact throughout the stories, which shift back and forth in time and across generations, the author conveys Chippewa culture, the families' resistance to and acceptance of change, the roles of strong women in holding families together, the hostility towards the federal government, and the sometimes overwhelming despair of those who live on the reservation. The characters' sense of pride and endurance elevate even the saddest and most wrenching stories, however, while the bleak humor keeps them from becoming morbid or sentimental. Dramatic, thoughtful, and powerful, Erdrich's collection creates an unforgettable portrait of two families who represent a changing Chippewa nation. Mary Whipple

Each chapter is written in the style of its' primary character and reflects the individuals' point of view. Family alliances and feuds are played out, relationships become evident, and secrets are uncovered with each turn of a page. Events are often retold elsewhere in the book from another persons' perspective and the plots continue to thicken. Hopes and dreams often give way to stark reality. Some characters remain on the reservation accepting their lots in life and triumph despite personal tragedies, dysfunctional families, and adversity. Other characters don't cope as well and attempt to escape to the city only to find out that no matter where they go they cannot escape themselves or their destinies. Then, there are those that are so tortured by their life experiences that they see no other way out but the ultimate escape from life itself. Yet, despite tragedy and hardship, life endures. Each character has unique coping mechanisms and skills, and philosophy about life. As the book progresses the reader gets to know all the key characters very well.

Remarkable throughout the book is the connection and sense of extended family that exists in this community. Especially poignant is the way the matriarchs hold all aspects of reservation life together through good times and bad. Children are fostered as needed without question and raised alongside natural children, frailties accepted, those in need are cared for, eccentricities are tolerated, and indiscretions either forgiven or ignored. Doors are always open to friends and relatives, commodities shared, and family loyalty is a way of life. The community is interdependent on all its' members, as is clearly demonstrated when all the families in the community are included as employees of the short-lived Tomahawk Factory, and reap from both the success and failure of this trailblazing endeavor. The ways and superstitions of the Old World weave their way throughout the book adding interest, and sometimes mystery.

Using the personal experiences as a German-Native American and her keen insight into all aspects of life Erdrich brings to light the challenges of everyday life for this marginal population; those that live both in the old world and the new, and sometimes don't fit into either. With her skill at presenting a total picture of modern Native American lifestyle on the reservation the author brings to the readers' consciousness various socio-political messages. The presence of alcohol abuse and its' consequences resurfaces throughout the book both from the abusers' point of view and that of the victims. After an intimate look inside the lives of these fictional characters the root causes of what are often looked upon as hereditary traits become apparent. People need to feel valued, productive, and that there is hope for something better in their lives. Historically, reservation life has encouraged dependency on the government rather than self-sufficiency and entrepreneurship. The effects of parental alcoholism on children in the form of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome also cannot be ignored as a cause of this unfortunate cycle that clearly needs to be broken.

Come, spend some time at the "res", and if you aren't ready to leave when you turn the last page don't despair - this need not be the end. Step into the books' sequel The Bingo Palace. One can only wonder and imagine what further adventures and mysteries await within the walls what used to be the infamous Tomahawk Factory!