The Sentence by Louise Erdrich

Ok, the last of the 4 reviews from this weekend.  Note to self, DON'T LEAVE YOUR CHROMEBOOK AT SCHOOL!

I wanted to like this.  I really, really did.  And I loved the first part.  Second part, I found so depressing.  And the thing is, it honestly reads like two completely separate books, as if two different people wrote them and the publisher thought, well here's two stories about Minneapolis, let's forge them together!

Part 1 is an amusing ghost story.  Tookie, a recently released inmate, works at her local book store.  She was arrested after stealing a dead body for a friend, that was actually hiding drugs.  Said book store is modeled on Erdrich's actual one, with a fictional Louise as the boss.  The store features books by, about, and for Native American Indians.  Flora, a white female ghost, haunts the store.  The writing is sarcastic, witty, and entertaining. It's almost perfect October reading. 

Then part 2 is 2020.  The pandemic and George Floyd/BLM.  The story turns incredibly dark, as would be the case.  The writing style changes too.  Riots and looting occur around the store, as happened in real life.  It's heartbreaking.

And I do not feel they actually go together well.  They absolutely could have been two separate novels, and would have been successful I think.  Or even a series.  But as one continuous novel, it does not work.

All opinions expressed on this blog are solely those of Mrs. W.