My first encounter with Louise Erdrich certainly did not disappoint! Tracks is a melancholy and beautifully written story taking place on the Ojibwe reservation around the 1920s. Told via two (very different) view points, we can only witness the land of the tribes being slowly but inexorably stolen from them by a government who thinks of nothing but profit, wielding their power with a piece of paper that somehow holds the authority to remove people from their homes and land.
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It is bleak, but as I’ve already said, beautiful. Erdrich captures the landscape perfectly, the harsh winters can almost be felt by the reader and the beauty of the wilderness abounds.
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She also excels with her characters. The story is narrated in turn by Nanapush, a tribal elder who had lived through much, and Pauline, a young woman whose conversion to Christianity leads to spiralling madness. The two characters are at odds with one another, and it is through their eyes that we discover the strongest force of the novel: Fleur Pillager. An orphan, Fleur is referred derogatorily by others as a ‘blanket Indian’, someone who still practises traditional magic and rituals, all of which is blended seamlessly into the plot.
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I would recommend this one for Erdrich’s writing alone, but it’s an important one too. Apparently this is part of a trio of books (which I may or may not have read out of order) so I’m very much looking forward to meeting these characters again!