The son also rises
Death, sex and money active ingredients in this complex morality tale
The Round House is both a suspense story and a novel with a message: A violent, horrific crime provides the suspense, while the obstacles facing criminal justice in native communities form the basis of the message.
The Round House tells the story of 13-year-old Joe Coutts, a native American living on an Ojibwe reservation in North Dakota, and how he copes with life after his mother is brutally attacked. Readers are drawn in by Joe, who narrates the story, and who is compelled to avenge the violence against his mother.
From the outset, The Round House is tragic. The violent rape means the abrupt end of childhood and protected innocence for Joe, who is portrayed as a good student who has lived in a stable, loving home.
Joe’s mother is Geraldine, who works as part of the native system, registering births of native babies and listing their mothers and fathers. Joe’s dad is Bazil, a judge in the native courts. Bazil immediately assumes the attack is related to his work, and brings home files he ends up sharing with Joe.
Joe is underwhelmed by the cases his dad shows him: They seem almost trivial compared to what has happened to his mother, who now won’t get out of bed. Petty thefts, familial disputes and over-indulgence in alcohol seem to be at the root of most of his father’s files.
Joe is sure the police aren’t taking his mother’s case seriously and decides to take matters into his own hands.
Because Geraldine either won’t or can’t say where exactly the attack took place, there are problems with jurisdiction. Obtaining justice will be near impossible if it can’t be decided who is responsible.
Joe figures out the attack took place at the Round House, sacred space and place of worship for the Ojibwe.
He takes his friends there and together, they find the first clues into the crime. Joe gets deeper into investigating the crime as his mother becomes isolated and depressed.
The book is set in 1988, and some of Joe’s narration is from his perspective as an adult looking back on his 14th year.
From the beginning, readers know Joe will survive this summer, but his behaviour becomes increasingly risky and disturbing as the book progresses.
The novel is a morality tale about the challenges and intricacy of the native justice system, while at the same time it is a compelling mystery and coming-of-age story. Multilayered and complex, the narrative weaves in native legends, history and, at times, harsh reality. Joe’s story includes death, secrets, sex and money, all wound up in an intricate mystery.
The Round House won the National Book Award for fiction this year in the U.S., and it is Louise Erdrich’s 14th novel. Her novel Love Medicine won the National Book Critics Circle Award and The Plague of Doves won the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize.
Speaking on PBS, Erdrich said she identifies as native American. Her father was of German descent and her mother was a member of the Turtle Mountain Chippewas, a native American tribe in North Dakota. Erdrich now lives in Minnesota and is the owner of Birchbark Books, an independent bookstore with a focus on native culture.