Louise Erdrich's superb new novel is narrated, at some remove from the events, by 13-year-old Joe Coutts. The action opens in 1988 on a Native American reservation in North Dakota. Joe and his father are quietly digging out tree saplings from the foundations of their house when the family's peace is shattered by the rape and attempted murder of Joe's mother. The pair's pursuit of justice jostles with ordinary life. Erdrich lovingly describes Joe's eccentric grandfather, or Mooshum, his exotic, sexy aunt Sonja, and his four best friends who spend a summer drinking, playing, obsessing over
Star Trek and dreaming of girls. Erdrich's political intent is evident from the chilling afterword that one in three Native American women are raped, but few perpetrators are ever caught.
The Round House approaches a complex, disturbing subject matter with admirable sensitivity and courage. The moving final pages linger long in the memory. A deserved winner of 2012's American National Book Award.
