Review
The jacket narrative of
The Plague of Doves is rather
deceptive. Erdrich's latest offering isn't really a novel;
it's a collection of short stories loosely tied together
through the lynching mentioned in the book's description.
The core story serves as a touchstone, a place to connect
the diverse tales, but doesn't play a central part in the
characters' actions or development. Very little of the book
is about the brutal murders related in the book's one-page
introduction, focusing instead on relationships within and
between families.
Short story collections often suffer from unevenness in
quality from tale to tale. Such is not the case with
The
Plague of Doves. All of the stories in this compilation
are engaging and exceptionally well-written, with a depth...
Beyond the Book
Louis Riel
Many of the characters featured in
The Plague of Doves
are
Metis. The Metis (historically known as the Bois
Brule) emerged in Canada in the mid-17
th Century
as New World fur traders intermarried with Cree, Ojibwe,
Salteaux and Menominee natives. While mostly French, some of
the traders were English and Scots. Over time, the offspring
of these unions themselves interbred and had children of
their own, creating one of three Aboriginal peoples
recognized by the Canadian government.
The Metis homeland includes the Canadian provinces of
British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba & Ontario,
as well as parts of the United States...
