Here's what I wrote in 2008 about this read: "There are many ways for a youth to be troubled, almost to the point of losing their way home, and many reasons to be troubled. But the bonds of woman and blood are strong. A tale of one such youth, with her mix of Native American and African American blood." Honesty, though, at this point I have no memory of reading this book. ( )

This was the book I read in its entirety on a greyhound bus from Los Angeles to Santa Cruz as a senior in high school. The book has stayed with me for over a decade as a beautiful weaving of stories and the long-term effects of parents decisions on their children’s trajectories and lives. I should re-read at some point as an adult and see if it is as powerful. ( )

Michael Dorris weaves a moving story of three generations of Native American women, whose lives are complicated and twisted, and whose love for one another is buried beneath misunderstanding and lack of communication. At the outset, we are told the story of Rayona’s life, through Rayona’s eyes. She is the half-Indian, half-black daughter of Christine. Her mother seems dissociative and somewhat cruel, and my reaction was to have no sympathy and very little understanding of a mother who would behave this way. But, even in Rayona’s account there is the hint of trouble between Christine and her mother, Ida, and when we reach book two and see the events through Christine’s eyes we come to understand behavior that seemed so puzzling before. And, finally, we are allowed to hear the background story that is Ida’s life and see the roots of all this dysfunction that haunts the lives of each of these women.

I was drawn into this book immediately and felt there was momentum that pulled me forward right through to the end. All the characters were very realistic and there was enough of mystery surrounding their lives to make you want to unravel the threads of the story for a peek at the past. I particularly liked the secondary characters of Dayton and Lee. They fleshed out the story and gave it a depth it would have lacked without them.

There is a clear picture of life on the reservation, the poverty and problems with alcohol and the unique problems that come from living where the ties are so close and intermingled. Although I have no first hand knowledge of life on a reservation, the novel feels well researched and accurately portrayed. Reading it in the wake of [b:Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI|29496076|Killers of the Flower Moon The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI|David Grann|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1470699853s/29496076.jpg|49782213], a non-fiction account of the Osage Indians, gave me a gauge against which to measure it, and it held up well.

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I read this almost two years ago so I don't remember much but it was okay. The different perspectives of the women were compelling but I felt myself wanted to learn more but they were cut short as the next perspective was introduced. The whole raft scene was pretty ambiguous but made me angry! ( )

Three generations of Indian women tell the stories of their lives and their prickly relationships with one another. As each story unfolds, things that didn’t make sense earlier start to fit together.
It kept me reading but now that I’ve finished, I realize the three voices telling the story were too similar. The young girl sounded more sophisticated and world wise than the character seemed; her mother was way too self aware than she acted. The grandmother who stayed on the reservation not only didn’t sound like someone who grew up Indian, she was also an unbelievable character with too much cold-blooded scheming. Finally, there were too many coincidences and unbelievable events.
All that said, I still enjoyed the family drama and the pleasure of seeing their secrets unfold. ( )