The Night Watchman by Louise Erdrich

THE NIGHT WATCHMAN by Louise Erdrich is the most recently published novel by this prolific, award-winning author. Erdich based this story in part on her own grandfather’s fight against Termination, involving changes to treaties (originally set in place for “as long as the grass grows and the rivers flow”) and the status of Native Americans in the early 1950s.  The title character is Thomas who muses, “every so often, the government remembered about Indians.  And when they did, they always tried to solve Indians ... by getting rid of us.” Later, Erdrich writes, “the author of the proposal had constructed a cloud of lofty words around this bill -- emancipation, freedom, equality, success – that disguised its truth: termination. Termination. Missing only the prefix. The ex.”

A second story line involves Patrice/Pixie, a fictional character who works at the local plant, is related to Thomas, and travels to the city to look for her missing sister. She is full of fortitude and Erdrich’s writing is again poignant, descriptive, and evocative.  Here are just a few brief examples:  “… the train was moving at a smooth, delicious, rocking speed. Patrice smiled, looking at the houses, streets, people, whisking away behind her as the train rolled along at a magnificent gait. Nobody had ever, ever described to her how freeing it felt to be riding on a train.”  And, “She gave him a look that would have shaved his face if he’d had whiskers.”

Other aspects of Erdrich’s writing concern the sexual exploitation of Native American women and also the role of Christian versus tribal religion (with missionaries, visions and superstitions), either of these topics may make some readers uncomfortable. Also, the novel, while beautifully written, is difficult to follow at times as many characters have multiple names and the perspective shifts frequently.  The Boston Globe says, “Erdrich is a writer of splendid complications and digressions;” that is certainly evident in THE NIGHT WATCHMAN which received starred reviews from Booklist, Kirkus and Library Journal.