In 1911, a family in the town of Pluto, North Dakota was brutally murdered, and their bodies were found by four Native Americans from the neighboring reservation. The next day, a band of white townspeople rounded up and lynched the four innocent men, only one of whom survived. This horrific series of events is at the heart of Louise Erdrich’s marvelous book – a series of interwoven stories about the descendents of both the white vigilantes, and of the survivor of the lynching. Through three generations, the family lines clash and intermingle in surprising ways, and new stories spin out of their troubled history. In lyrical, magical prose, Erdrich explores the way that the passage of time forms scar tissue around our old wounds, but never truly erases them. The Plague of Doves and its wide cast of characters are funny and fragmented and tragic. They demand attention and reflection and the highest praise. ( )

With Louise Erdrich as the author of this book, it pretty much goes without saying that the writing is excellent. But I think I would have enjoyed it a lot more if I'd been able to keep the characters straight. The book jumps from narrator to narrator and generation to generation, and I just didn't have a chance. Often the new narrator is someone only distantly connected (by relationship, all the action takes place in the same general area) to a previous narrator, and I kept asking Who is this person? Am I supposed to have any prior knowledge of this person's relationships with anyone I've already met? Although each character and each narrative section was very well done, it became very frustrating to try to read this as a cohesive story. ( )

Louise Erdrich is a master storyteller and if you’ve read any of her other novels, I’m sure you know that. Set in the town of Pluto, North Dakota just outside a reservation The Plague of Doves tells the story of a brutal murder and the lynching that followed. In one sense, this is a mystery as the purpose of the narrative is to discover the truth – but it’s not your typical who-done-it story with detectives or private investigators. It's much more complicated than that - in addition to the mystery, the following topics play a part in the narrative in some fashion: stamp collecting, collecting local and oral histories, Catholic schools, evangelical preachers, infidelity, psychiatric institutions, and lesbianism - just to name a few. And they're all important and vital to understanding the story.

The real purpose of this story, I think is the discovery of truth - whether it's in history, in yourself, or in your relationships.

The discovery of truth in this novel is told through the eyes of three narrators – Evelina, Judge Antone Bazil Coutts, and Marne Wold. The main narrator is Evelina and her story begins when she’s about 10 or 11 years old in the 1960's. Her grandfather, Mooshum, tells Evelina and her brother stories of his past (they do this instead of watching TV).

While many of the characters and scenes are funny, Erdrich also writes with depth and feeling about the murders and lynchings. One summer day basketweavers, Asiginak and Holy Track, are out selling their baskets door to door (or farm to farm). Mooshum and his friend Cuthbert Peace are up to no good and are attempting to steal or beg the basketweavers money to buy whiskey and come across a horrifying, brutal murder scene. The four men rescued a baby, milked the desperate cows and decide what to do next. Later, the four men were tracked down by a posse of towns people (who assumed they committed the murders) and hung from an oak tree on Wolde's land - but notice that Mooshum is the one telling the story to his granddaughter Evelina - he survived the lynching. Evelina finds out the truth about that part of the story a few years later - but I'll let you read the book to find out his secret.

There's a lot to take in and keep track of in this excellent book - Family ties and lineage play an important part in this book - as Judge Antone Bazil Coutts says, Nothing that happens - nothing - is not connected by blood. ( )

Terrific book. Grabbed me from the beginning. ( )

Interlinked short stories give the effect of reading a novel.