Linda's Reviews > The Sentence

Reflections and shattered pieces.....

Louise Erdrich, one of my all-time favorite authors, presents a novel tightly packed with a solemn reverence for all things in the scope of being particular to the events from 2020 and even delving into the history of the Ojibwe in Minnesota. It is raw, it is revealing, and it hits places where we all fear to tread.

Erdrich anchors her story through the character of Tookie. Tookie proudly wears her Ojibwe identity. But her complicated past will continue to throw shadows upon her. She was arrested for a crime in which she lost all good sense. Prison taught her many skills and honed in her ability to see well beyond the obvious. Her diligence got her a job in a small business bookstore and the lasting imprint of her personality roped in a husband, Pollux, a former police officer. Their relationship was destined in the stars.

Tookie encounters all kinds of individuals within the bookstore setting. Erdrich, a bookstore owner herself, lines the story with authors and titles that make any dedicated reader salivate. One of the most unsettling customers for Tookie was Flora who elbowed her way into everyone's business uninvited. Word reaches Tookie that Flora has died. And here's where an unexpected presence follows Tookie within the walls of the store. She knows that sometimes the dead refuse to be dead. And that fits Flora to a tee. Throughout the story, we will experience the unexplainable presence of Flora and her persistence. Tookie's reaction is, at times, hilarious and other times fearful.

The Sentence is definitely character driven. We will meet Pollux' complicated daughter as well as Tookie's fellow workers at the store. And with every opportunity around every corner, Erdrich will insert matters for the mind. As other readers of this novel will tell you, early 2020 with the pandemic in full force and the riots after the murder of George Floyd will leave a bitter ache. Walking through the streets of these events, especially with the pandemic still in our midst, is going to be heavy and heartbreaking. But it's all part of Tookie's existence at the time as well.

"I worked hard, kept things tidy, curtailed my inner noise, stayed steady. And still, trouble found where I lived and tracked me down." And that speaks to us all in these times. But don't let trouble unpack its bags and stay. Better times come when better is released into the Universe.