I have read and re-read Alexandra Fuller's three memoirs and was eagerly anticipating this book --- and I loved it as much as I thought I would. Told in beautiful, spare and evocative language, Alexandra Fuller makes her fiction debut with a story set on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota. In short chapters, we learn about quiet and contemplative Rick Overlooking Horse and the hot-tempered You Choose Watson, as well as other people whose lives intersect, intertwine, catch and release with each other. Fuller’s story is less about the events of their lives than it is about kinship and shared experiences and is a tribute to a Native American perspective.
Fuller's language is spare, but very descriptive and definitely gave me moments to pause and think about a statement or part of the story. Her observations, through the points of view of various characters, are thoughtful and thought-provoking. Here is an example, from p. 129: “Think about it. If the people of a nation are violently forced to forget themselves, their sacred traditions, their way of life, their understanding of the Earth, their respect for other nations, then what follows is almost inevitable: The men will take out their amnesia on the women, the women will take it out on the children, and everyone will take it out on the land. This goes for all nations, of course, not just the White Man Nation.” P 129
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