THE MIGHTY RED
by Louise Erdrich
I firmly believe that Louise Erdrich should be on every reader’s “go to” reading list. Just when I think she can’t possibly write a better book than her last, she does. Not only does she always tell a compelling story filled with memorable characters, but she unfailingly writes masterful prose.
The Mighty Red takes place in a small town in North Dakota where Kismet Poe lives with her single mother, Crystal, who drives a truck at night hauling sugar beets. Kismet, as beautiful as she is unconventional, scares away most of the boys in her high school class. Except for Gary Geist, football star and son of the sugar beet farm owner and one of the wealthiest kids in town. He believes that by marrying Kismet, he will be saved from the horrifying guilt he feels about a high school party gone terribly wrong. Erdrich's method for revealing the details of that party—in small increments as the book progresses—is pure genius. Meanwhile, we see the after-effects of the party on Gary, his friends, his parents, Kismet and the entire town from the very beginning of the book.
Entangled in the story of Gary’s pursuit of Kismet we find Hugo, Kismet’s best friend, who also wants Kismet to build a life with him. As unconventional as Kismet is, Hugo is a home-schooled wizard who works at his mother’s bookstore. Then we have Kismet’s mother Crystal who has a live-in boyfriend that embezzles funds from their church and from Crystal and then disappears. In all of these relationships, Erdrich portrays the people in this small town as capable of holding people up in bad times and tearing them down at others. She writes multi-dimensional, believable characters, full of both good and bad qualities.
When Erdrich finally revealed the details of Gary’s living nightmare, I screamed out loud. That’s how deeply she drew me in. Experiencing Kismet’s struggle to accommodate Gary, Hugo, Gary’s mother, her own mother and herself feels as poignant as any storyline I’ve ever read. The characters in The Big Red are full of vast and conflicting feelings, as is Erdrich as she reflects on the state of big farming and its impact on the environment. This story will stay in your heart long after you’ve finished reading. (Liz)
