Gary Eller

It took me three tries to get into this book. I just couldn't get past Ida Mae's story in the beginning. Once we got to Fawn, I got pulled in, and I finished the book.

There were many fascinating and tragic characters in this book. There were also a lot of deplorable characters, mostly men, who were drawn very convincingly as inherently evil. There were themes of abandonment, loss, sexual abuse, physical abuse, incest, poverty, mental illness and a lot of murder.

Despite all of the content, show more I'm not really sure what this book was supposed to be about. We meet a lot of characters - all connected in one way or another - but there isn't a cohesive story to the book. A lot of people suffer and a lot of people die. At the end we are left with one character who is left half-finished and an open-ended question as to what his future would be. Frankly, amongst all the characters, he was not a compelling one, and I would have rather seen several other characters survive and be the ones to close the book.

Eller really tried with this book, but in the end it was a mess, and I felt like I spent a lot of time reading something only for it not to really have an ending. I would not recommend this book. show less

2.5 stars

True North follows Florence Little Shay, Fawn Breen, Harold Peavey and their families as they tackle life in the 1930s to 1960s around the Turtle Mountain Reservation. The book deals with tough topics and there are a few trigger warnings: racism, misoginy, homophobia, rape, murder, alcoholism, mental health issues.

Eller’s descriptions of flora, fauna, daily activities and time passing are captivating. I found Harold to be particularly calming and a constant presence amongst the show more trauma and found some of the character arcs interesting. Unfortunately, I kept getting pulled out of the story because of some descriptions of characters (mostly those who weren’t white men) and their reactions didn’t make sense to me. I think that the author may have wanted to portray the way misogyny and racism was exhibited in the early- to mid-1900s but the negative reactions that the characters would have felt when experiencing sexism, racism and violence wasn’t always there. That made it very difficult to immerse myself in the story. For example, a young woman is raised in an isolated setting and is very distrustful of others. She has no known experience of sexual violence. One day, when she is minding her own business, she gets raped in a barn by her brother-in-law. She is described by the narrator as thinking ‘little of it’ and finds the experience ‘distasteful’ but soon comes to consider it as another one of her chores. It was very difficult for me to believe that she would have had such a mild reaction to such a traumatic event.

Thank you bhc press for an advanced review copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. show less

Ida Florence Little Shay is orphaned as a teen. When she is sent to watch over young girls at a boarding school, Ida Florence is determined to make a better life for herself. However, her decisions along with the current state of the world lead her right back into the situation she came from. Fawn Breen has only ever known the small mud hut that she and her father live in, raising goats and foraging nearby. Once Sidney Breen finds Fawn in the woods, Fawn life changes forever. Harold Peavy show more can't catch a break since he made a decision in line with his morals. Forced into a life he didn't choose, Harold tries to make the best of what he has been given in the small town of Prophetstown, North Dakota.

True North follows the stories of three interconnected families living along the Canadian Border and the Turtle Mountain Indian Reservation in North Dakota from the 1930's through the 1960's. The time period and landscape offer a bleak landscape and outlook for the people of Prophetstown. Poverty, racism, and war defined these time periods for the people of Prophetstown. The writing carried a long story over several decades at a good pace. Each family had their own method of survival and holding on to hope. The characters were all bound together by tragedy and sorrow. Some of them used this bond to overcome while some became stuck in their suffering. Each character was written very real, raw and gritty. I wanted to know their stories and was carried through their journeys with each misfortune, setback and trial that they faced.

This book was received for free in return for an honest review. show less

True North is about rural people living on and near the Turtle Mountain reservation in North Dakota, spanning the period of 1930s to 1960s. I was particularly interested in it because North Dakota is my home state with my ancestors in the state going back a number of generations. The book is a bit difficult to read for many reasons. There are a number of what could be considered main characters and these characters are connected to each other in various ways throughout the book. It is a show more stark book, not softening the harsh living conditions and shocking activities that occur. To me, it evoked John Steinbeck and even Edith Wharton. While it is a bleak book in so many ways, the story and characters ring true. The imagery is beautiful. I recommend it as a realistic account of life in this place and time.
*This review is an unbiased review of a book I received free of charge from LibraryThing Early Reviewers.* show less