Tuesday, September 2, 2008

FOUR SOULS by Louise Erdrich

FIC
ERDRICH

Fleur Pillager seeks revenge against a wealthy land baron for the deforestation of her Ojibwe lands. She hires on as a laundress in the home of John James Mauser in order to murder him.
Her scheme becomes complicated when she decides to first cure him of a mysterious illness to enhance the cruelty of his death. Eventually, compassion rules and Fleur and Mauser marry.
Fleur, who adopts her mother's name of "Four Souls," gives birth to an autistic son who eventually helps her reclaim her ancestral lands.
Narrated by several characters, including Nanapush and his wife Margaret, and Polly Elizabeth, a member of the Mauser household who befriends Fleur, this novel picks up where Tracks ended.