Wednesday, July 06, 2022

This Tender Land by William Kent Krueger

 
First Line: In the beginning, after he labored over the heavens and the earth, the light and the dark, the land and sea and all living things that dwell within, after he created man and woman and before he rested, I believe God gave us one final gift.
 
On the banks of the Gilead River in Minnesota, Lincoln School is home to hundreds of Native American boys and girls who have been separated from their families. It is also home to two orphaned white boys, Odie and Albert. It's 1932. The country is deep in the Depression, and times are hard. They are made even harder by Lincoln School's cruel superintendent, Mrs. Brickman, whom all the students call the Black Witch because of her raven hair and dark eyes. Odie and Albert often find themselves in trouble and being punished by the superintendent, but they've made friends with a mute Native American boy called Mose and Cora Frost, a widowed teacher who's raising her little daughter, Emmy, by herself.
 
When tragedy strikes down Mrs. Frost, Odie and Albert are faced with a momentous decision. The two boys, along with Mose, rescue Emmy and escape in a canoe down the Gilead, leaving a dead body in their wake. All Odie and Albert want to do is make their way to St. Louis to an aunt who lives there. All they want is a place they can call home.  
 
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This Tender Land is so much more than an homage to Huckleberry Finn. William Kent Krueger is so immensely talented at creating living, breathing characters and setting them in a landscape that you can see and hear and touch.
 
Mose's Indian name means "broken to pieces," and so many things are broken to pieces in this marvelous book, first and foremost the lives of the characters. It's how hard they try to put those pieces back together that warms your heart.
 
More and more, I'm coming across books that are set during the Depression. It's such an incredible time period, and Krueger brings it to life. Rootless people with no money, no hope, and no homes. One cataclysm after another that they must endure. No wonder thirteen-year-old Odie believes God is a tornado. Another of the strong elements in This Tender Land is showing what so many children were forced to endure in Indian boarding schools throughout the United States and Canada.
 
With a rock-solid foundation of a setting, I couldn't help but be swept along with those four children in their canoe as they paddled down one river after another. On the run, hungry, scared, encountering people from all walks of life, and being placed in all sorts of situations. Krueger is superb when it comes to depicting the strength of the human spirit and the beauty of the land. If you want to be fully immersed in the next book you read, pick up a copy of This Tender Land.    

This Tender Land by William Kent Krueger
Narrated by Scott Brick.
ASIN: B07S85YLDY
Recorded Books © 2019
Audiobook. 14  hours and 19 minutes.
 
Historical Fiction, Standalone
Rating: A
Source: Purchased from Audible.

10 comments:

  1. Krueger is so skilled at creating a sense of place and time, isn't he, Cathy? And I agree with you about his strength in character development. It sounds as though this one has some solid adventure, too, if I can put it that way. Glad you liked it so well.

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    1. It also has one scene at a tent revival that will stay in my memory for a long time. Chilling and heartbreaking.

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  2. I've had this book on my TBR list for awhile now and I so want to read it. I love the premise of the four kids out there on their own. :)

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    1. And of course, they have all sorts of adventures. The sad thing of it is that there were so many children in the same sort of position because their parents couldn't afford to feed or clothe them.

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  3. Been planning to read this for over a year now so will try to get to it soon.

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  4. I loved this one. Krueger is a very fine writer that I look forward to reading for years to come.

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    1. I didn't care for the first Cork O'Connor mystery that I read, but I would imagine I'll dip into that series again because I love his standalones so much.

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  5. I have been meaning to read this for so long. Your review is nudging me to make it sooner rather than later.

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    1. It's a very good, engaging story, Gretchen.

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