historical fiction
The Night Watchman is about the people in a South Dakotan
Chippewa community in the 1950s. Louise Erdrich introduces us to many characters and takes us through a slice of their
life and interactions as they battle for their rights, their loves, their families,
and their futures.
The night watchman of the title is based on the author’s
grandfather and Erdrich shines light on the struggles of native Americans to
retain their own lands and customs. But, for me, the most engaging storyline
was Pixie’s. I found myself disappointed every time we moved to anyone else’s
point of view. Sometimes Erdrich even gave us the point of view of animals and
ghosts. It was meant to get to the heart of the Chippewa culture and lifestyle and
I give her creativity points. Her story effectively described the hardships and
pleasures of these people. However, it was pretty slow-paced overall.
The narration was performed by the author. This is the
second of her novels that I’ve heard her narrate. She does a reasonably good
job at voice acting which helped me enjoy the novel. I think she did a better
job with this one than the other one I listened to. I’ll give her a B.
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