This Tender Land by William Kent Krueger

 

Title: This Tender Land

Author:  William Kent Krueger

Narrated by:  Scott Brick

Publisher: Recorded Books

Length: Approximately 14 hours and 9 minutes

Source: Audiobook Purchased from Audible

Do you like to read books that include a journey?  I have always loved a good road trip or maritime voyage novel.

In the summer of 1932 at the Lincoln Indian Training School in Minnesota, Odie and his brother Albert, are the only two white kids as the orphanage was full.  The children are beaten and mistreated at this school.  After Odie kills a man in self-defense, he, Albert, a mute Sioux boy names Mose, and an orphan named Emmy set out on a journey down the fictional Gilead River to try to find Odie and Albert’s aunt in St. Louis.  They have many adventures and meet a lot of interesting people.  Will they find out where they belong?

My thoughts on this novel:

·       This was the January selection for the Page-turners Book Club at the Kewaunee Public Library, and we had a great discussion about it.

·       This novel had it all, great writing, dialogue, and well-developed characters.

·       I kept thinking the story was like Huckleberry Finn, but I realized that it was like the Odyssey well into the novel.

·       There were many perils of the 1930s featured in the novel including shanty towns, revival meetings, illegal alcohol running, extreme poverty, riding the rails, etc.

·       They discover that the leaders of the school had been keeping letters and money that had been sent for the kids.  It made me sad thinking about all the Native American parents and children that were separated, sometimes forever through these types of schools.

·       An overriding them of the novel was, what is home?

·       Mose doesn’t speak and the Native American Children didn’t tell the story.  I thought about it, and I think that Krueger left them silent rather than telling a story that was not his to tell.

·       The Foreword states that the author hopes readers are familiar with his novel, Ordinary Grace.  I have not read it, but I have read books in the Cork O’Conner series.

·       More than one time, Odie read a situation completely wrong, and it had large implications.  Another theme was to make sure you know what is going on before you make a judgement.  It’s part of growing up.

·       The author’s note at the end was interesting. The Sinclair Lewis novel, Elmer Gantry, helped to inspire the author’s writing about tent revivals.  He also lists a lot of other inspirations including Charles Dickens.

My favorite quote, “Things were different then.  Not simpler or better, just different.”

Overall, This Tender Land by William Kent Krueger is a story that I will not forget soon.  It was a masterfully written novel of an epic journey during the Great Depression.  It’s a great book for a book club discussion.