The much-mythologized Indigenous woman takes control of her own narrative in this “formally inventive, historically eye-opening novel” (The New York Times). In my seventh winter, when my head only reached my Appe’s rib, a White Man came into camp. Bare trees scratched sky. Cold was endless. He moved through trees like strikes of sunlight. My Bia said he came with bad intentions, like a Water Baby’s cry. Among the most memorialized women in American history, Sacajewea served as interpreter and guide for Lewis and Clark’s Corps of Discovery. In this visionary novel, acclaimed Indigenous author Debra Magpie Earling brings this mythologized figure vividly to life, casting unsparing light on the men who brutalized her and recentering Sacajewea as the arbiter of her own history. Raised among the Lemhi Shoshone, the young Sacajewea, in this telling, is bright and bold, growing strong from the hard work of “learning all ways to survive”: gathering berries, water, roots, and wood; butchering buffalo, antelope, and deer; catching salmon and snaring rabbits; weaving baskets and listening to the stories of her elders. When her village is raided and her beloved Appe and Bia are killed, Sacajewea is kidnapped and then gambled away to Charbonneau, a French-Canadian trapper. Heavy with grief, Sacajewea learns how to survive at the edge of a strange new world teeming with fur trappers and traders. When Lewis and Clark’s expedition party arrives, Sacajewea knows she must cross a vast and brutal terrain with her newborn son, the white man who owns her, and a company of men who wish to conquer and commodify the world she loves. Written in lyrical, dreamlike prose, The Lost Journals of Sacajewea is an astonishing work of art and a powerful tale of perseverance—the Indigenous woman’s story that hasn’t been told. “Poetic prose . . . interweaves factual accounts of Sacajewea’s life with a first-person narrative deeply rooted in the physicality of landscape and brutality of the times.” —Seattle Times “A literary masterpiece, a whirlwind of a story that made me shiver in response to its difficult beauty.” —Susan Power, author of The Grass Dancer
Set on Montana’s Flathead Indian Reservation in the 1940s, this is “a love story of uncommon depth and power [and a] superb first novel” (Booklist, starred review). On the reservation, summer is ending, and Louise White Elk is determined to forge her own path. Raised by her Grandmother Magpie after her mother’s death, Louise and her sister have grown up into the harsh social and physical landscape of western Montana, where Native people endure boarding schools and life far from home. As she approaches adulthood, Louise hopes to create an independent life for herself and an improved future for her family—but three persistent men have other plans. Since childhood, Louise has been pursued by Baptiste Yellow Knife, feared not only for his rough-and-tumble ways but also for the preternatural gifts of his bloodline. Baptiste’s rival is his cousin, Charlie Kicking Woman: a man caught between worlds, torn between his duty as a tribal officer and his fascination with Louise. And then there is Harvey Stoner. The white real estate mogul can offer Louise her wildest dreams of freedom, but at what cost? As tensions mount, Louise finds herself trying to outrun the bitter clutches of winter and the will of powerful men, facing choices that will alter her life—and end another’s—forever. “Beautiful . . . This novel will stand proudly among its peers in Native American literature and should have strong appeal to fans of Louise Erdrich.” —Library Journal “You will be mesmerized.” —NPR
Couronné lors de sa parution aux Etats-Unis par plusieurs prix dont l'American Book Award, ce premier roman d'une remarquable écriture impose une nouvelle voix et consacre Debra Magpie Earling comme une digne héritière de James Welch et de Louise Erdrich. Dans le Montana des années 1940, une jeune Indienne, Louise White Elk, rêve de s'évader de la réserve où elle vit, mais chaque tentative de départ ne fait que confirmer son attachement à ses racines. Elle rêve d'amour, mais les hommes que sa beauté attire se trouvent pris malgré elle dans une toile de désir et de violence où ils ne peuvent que se perdre, et finalement peut-être, la perdre. " Un livre formidable, puissant et bouleversant, riche d'histoires qui sonnent tellement juste qu'elles ont la résonance des chants sacrés et la portée des légendes. Je n'ai rien lu qui m'ait fait une telle impression depuis longtemps. ", James Crumley.
The much-mythologized Indigenous woman takes control of her own narrative in this “formally inventive, historically eye-opening novel” (The New York Times). In my seventh winter, when my head only reached my Appe’s rib, a White Man came into camp. Bare trees scratched sky. Cold was endless. He moved through trees like strikes of sunlight. My Bia said he came with bad intentions, like a Water Baby’s cry. Among the most memorialized women in American history, Sacajewea served as interpreter and guide for Lewis and Clark’s Corps of Discovery. In this visionary novel, acclaimed Indigenous author Debra Magpie Earling brings this mythologized figure vividly to life, casting unsparing light on the men who brutalized her and recentering Sacajewea as the arbiter of her own history. Raised among the Lemhi Shoshone, the young Sacajewea, in this telling, is bright and bold, growing strong from the hard work of “learning all ways to survive”: gathering berries, water, roots, and wood; butchering buffalo, antelope, and deer; catching salmon and snaring rabbits; weaving baskets and listening to the stories of her elders. When her village is raided and her beloved Appe and Bia are killed, Sacajewea is kidnapped and then gambled away to Charbonneau, a French-Canadian trapper. Heavy with grief, Sacajewea learns how to survive at the edge of a strange new world teeming with fur trappers and traders. When Lewis and Clark’s expedition party arrives, Sacajewea knows she must cross a vast and brutal terrain with her newborn son, the white man who owns her, and a company of men who wish to conquer and commodify the world she loves. Written in lyrical, dreamlike prose, The Lost Journals of Sacajewea is an astonishing work of art and a powerful tale of perseverance—the Indigenous woman’s story that hasn’t been told. “Poetic prose . . . interweaves factual accounts of Sacajewea’s life with a first-person narrative deeply rooted in the physicality of landscape and brutality of the times.” —Seattle Times “A literary masterpiece, a whirlwind of a story that made me shiver in response to its difficult beauty.” —Susan Power, author of The Grass Dancer
Set on Montana’s Flathead Indian Reservation in the 1940s, this is “a love story of uncommon depth and power [and a] superb first novel” (Booklist, starred review). On the reservation, summer is ending, and Louise White Elk is determined to forge her own path. Raised by her Grandmother Magpie after her mother’s death, Louise and her sister have grown up into the harsh social and physical landscape of western Montana, where Native people endure boarding schools and life far from home. As she approaches adulthood, Louise hopes to create an independent life for herself and an improved future for her family—but three persistent men have other plans. Since childhood, Louise has been pursued by Baptiste Yellow Knife, feared not only for his rough-and-tumble ways but also for the preternatural gifts of his bloodline. Baptiste’s rival is his cousin, Charlie Kicking Woman: a man caught between worlds, torn between his duty as a tribal officer and his fascination with Louise. And then there is Harvey Stoner. The white real estate mogul can offer Louise her wildest dreams of freedom, but at what cost? As tensions mount, Louise finds herself trying to outrun the bitter clutches of winter and the will of powerful men, facing choices that will alter her life—and end another’s—forever. “Beautiful . . . This novel will stand proudly among its peers in Native American literature and should have strong appeal to fans of Louise Erdrich.” —Library Journal “You will be mesmerized.” —NPR
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