Book Review: The Night Watchman

A Two-Minute Book Review

The Night Watchman by Louise Erdrich

I loved THE SENTENCE by Erdrich earlier this year, so I picked up a copy of her Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, THE NIGHT WATCHMAN.

Erdrich is a gifted storyteller. As a bonus, she narrates the audiobook, and I think it’s the best way to read her work. She tells her story in a whisper like it’s bedtime. I am equally charmed and soothed by her voice.

What I love best is her palpable fondness for her characters. You can hear her smiling as she says their names. Not only did she create these people, but she also loves them and enjoys telling the reader about them.

Synopsis from GoodReads, “Based on the extraordinary life of National Book Award-winning author Louise Erdrich’s grandfather, who worked as a night watchman and carried the fight against Native dispossession from rural North Dakota all the way to Washington, D.C., this powerful novel explores themes of love and death with lightness and gravity and unfolds with the elegant prose, sly humor, and depth of feeling of a master craftsman.”

In the background of the photo is my Dad’s canoe. It’s not birchbark, but it is handmade. And how perfect are the colors with this cover?

This is an excellent book to read during National Native American Heritage Month (November)…or any other month.