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LaRose by Louise Erdrich

Louise Erdrich is in top form with this novel describing family complications, contradictions between tribal and white customs and rituals, and focusing on justice and retribution. When an Ojibwe tribe member accidentally kills his neighbor’s five-year-old son, tradition dictates that he must atone by giving the neighbor his own son to raise as his own. The boy, LaRose, becomes a bridge of sorts between the two families. All characters are well developed, with their sorrow and pain gradually giving way to acceptance in a believable ending.

Kathy, Breakwater Books, Guilford