The Painted Drum (eBook)

Description

When a woman named Faye Travers is called upon to appraise the estate of a family in her small New Hampshire town, she isn't surprised to discover a forgotten cache of valuable Native American artifacts. After all, the family descends from an Indian agent who worked on the North Dakota Ojibwe reservation that is home to her mother's family. However, she stops dead in her tracks when she finds in the collection a rare drum -- a powerful yet delicate object, made from a massive moose skin stretched across a hollow of cedar, ornamented with symbols she doesn't recognize and dressed in red tassels and a beaded belt and skirt -- especially since, withouttouching the instrument, she hears it sound.

From Faye's discovery, we trace the drum's passage both backward and forward in time, from the reservation on the northern plains to New Hampshire and back. Through the voice of Bernard Shaawano, an Ojibwe, we hear how his grandfather fashioned the drum after years of mourning his young daughter's death, and how it changes the lives of those whose paths its crosses. And through Faye we hear of her anguished relationship with a local sculptor, who himself mourns the loss of a daughter, and of the life she has made alone with her mother, in the shadow of the death of Faye's sister.

Through these compelling voices, The Painted Drum explores the strange power that lost children exert on the memories of those theyleave behind, and as the novel unfolds, its elegantly crafted narrative comes to embody the intricate, transformative rhythms of human grief. One finds throughout the grace and wit, the captivating prose and surprising beauty, that characterize Louise Erdrich's finest work.

About the Author

Louise Erdrich lives with her family in Minnesota and is the owner of Birchbark Books, an independent bookstore. Ms. Erdrich is a member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa, and this story—which will, in the end, span one hundred years in the life of an Ojibwe woman—was inspired when Ms. Erdrich and her mother, Rita Gourneau Erdrich, were researching their own family history. Chickadee begins a new part of the story that started with The Birchbark House, a National Book Award finalist; The Game of Silence, winner of the Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction; and the acclaimed The Porcupine Year.

Ms. Erdrich is also the bestselling author of many critically acclaimed novels for adults, including the Pulitzer Prize finalist The Plague of Doves and National Book Award finalist The Last Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse. She is also the author of the picture book Grandmother's Pigeon, illustrated by Jim LaMarche.

Praise for The Painted Drum…

“A lovely addition . . . to a growing landscape as memorable and enduring as William Faulkner’s Yoknapatawpha County.
-Atlanta Journal-Constitution

“Complex and graceful . . . Her most recent work shows Erdrich only becoming better with time.”
-Cleveland Plain Dealer

“Erdrich soars in scenes that are resonant, poetic and exact, visions that will remain imprinted on the reader’s mind.”
-Los Angeles Times Book Review

“A brilliant creation: it possesses the instantly persuasive strangeness of something faithful to life.”
-New York Times Book Review

“This is simply a good book... Neatly etched characters, finely calibrated prose, and flashes of wisdom and wit throughout.”
-Christian Science Monitor

“Haunted and haunting... With fearlessness and humility... [Erdrich] inspires readers to open their hearts.”
-Washington Post Book World

“This is her best book yet.”
-Providence Journal

“Erdrich at her most accomplished. . . . Startling imagery and remarkable insights into love, foolishness, bravery and betrayal.”
-Philadelphia Inquirer

“One of her best novels... Erdrich’s writing has become richer, her voice wiser... She shies away from nothing.”
-Minneapolis Star Tribune

“A top-notch read and one of her finest efforts.”
-Denver Post