LaRose is a novel about revenge, escape and resolution. There are so many stories going on, so many different conversations that could be had. One book club meeting would most probably not suffice. The "big idea" of the story, in other words, the main plot focuses on the accidental killing of 5-year old Dusty by Landreaux. Based on an old Indian custom, Landreaux and his wife, Emmaline, give Dusty's parents (Emmaline's half-sister, although that relationship really wasn't ever properly explained in the novel) LaRose to raise as almost a replacement child to Dusty.
There were so many subplots, probably the most striking about the history of each generation's LaRose, going back to the original LaRose. An Indian who was "sold" by her mother, abandoned, sent to a school where she was supposed to become "civilized" and returned to marry the man she set off with as a young girl. Each LaRose had healing powers, an ability to transcend the real world to reach those who came before. This current young LaRose (the first boy LaRose) was no different.
Landreaux and his family lived on the Ojibwe reservation while Dusty and his parents, Peter and Nola, with their daughter Maggie lived off the reservation in the adjacent town. The interactions between the two communities was weaved throughout the story.
Also weaved throughout the story were historical references to the place that Indians had in our American history. Frank Baum, famous for writing The Wizard of Oz, was known to say “our only safety depends upon the total extermination of the Indians.” That was extreme, but over the years there were attempts to civilize the savages, sending young Indian children to boarding schools where they could learn the American ways and lose their Indian ways. I was fascinated by many of these descriptions and "civilizing the savages" was part of the fifth grade Social Injustice curriculum I covered as a teacher.
It was at just such a school where young Landreaux meets Romeo. Romeo grows into a damaged adult, fully bent on extracting revenge on Landreaux. It was because of Landreaux's carelessness that Romeo becomes physical damaged. And then to add insult to injury, Landreaux steals Emmaline, the woman of Romeo's dreams.
Other themes in the book include but are not limited to drug addiction, senior living, parenting, rebellious teens, suicide, religion and the current events of the 1990s. Do you see how there is so much to talk about after reading LaRose?
I loved the subject matter. I loved the interweaving of the stories. But often the book became too dark for me. I read before I go to sleep each night and sometimes after just reading a few pages, I'd need to set the book aside and get some sleep. At times, I find Erdrich's style of writing a bit heavy and cumbersome as well. In my mind, I thought I'd finished her book, The Round House, but at one point where I literally had to force myself to continue reading LaRose I recalled that The Round House was added to my dropped-books shelf on goodreads and I never actually completed it. In fact, the only Erdrich book that I completed was The Birchbark House, a middle grade chapter book about a young Objibwe girl set in the 1800s, a book that had been recommended to me by some of my fifth grade colleagues.
At the end of the ebook edition of LaRose was an interview with Louise Erdrich as well as information about her life and her writing life. I wish I'd read that at the time I'd read The Birchbark House and before I'd read LaRose. I'd have a better understanding of how much of each story came directly from the life of Erdrich or from the stories that had been passed down in her family.
I'd wholeheartedly recommend this as a book club book and I'd like to salute whoever suggested LaRose for our book club. It took me far longer to finish this book than other books of the same length. I'm glad I stuck with it. Now I'd love to find someone to discuss it with!
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