The news about Louise Erdrich’s latest novel, “Shadow Tag,’’ is that it’s a departure from her previous work, and an exciting one. Erdrich is the author of 13 novels, three poetry books, a collection of short stories, five children’s books, and two works of nonfiction, for which she has received significant critical acclaim (National Book Critics Circle Award for her first novel, “Love Medicine,’’ National Book Award Finalist for “The Last Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse,’’ and Pulitzer Prize finalist for her last novel, “Plague of Doves’’).
Thriller instinct
A tale of a troubled couple marks a departure for Erdrich as her lyricism grows fast-paced
She has achieved bestseller status as well with work marked by beautiful language and sometimes complex sagas involving multiple narratives and generations, as well as a Faulknerian sense of place. With the more straightforward “Shadow Tag,’’ which doesn’t skimp on depth, characterization, or plot, Erdrich is likely to pick up even more readers, including the sort who admire the spare prose and contemporary urban settings of Lorrie Moore, Mary Robison, and Amy Hempel (with whom Erdrich shares seductive descriptions of dogs, who are “emotional savants.” Readers will also be drawn to “Shadow Tag’s’’ pacing, which nudges Erdrich’s lyricism into thriller territory. While the writing is fiercely disciplined, with a poet’s polish, every line is unpredictable.
The novel presents a portrait of a marriage faintly reminiscent of “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” although the attacks, requiring no audience, are less frontal (with alcohol muffling, rather than inflaming), and the cruelty intertwines with tenderness. Here, too, we find academically-oriented spouses sparring (and if arty, intellectual couples irritate you, this book is not a good choice, unless you relish characters and authors who can laugh at themselves). Here, too, arguments sometimes reach the level of beloved sport. “They argued sometimes for comfort.”
Irene and Gil (who share Native American ancestry) have three children, who are wise to the ways of adults, and live in Minneapolis, where Gil is a painter and Irene has returned to her doctoral dissertation about 19th-century artist George Catlin, who painted (exploited?) Native American subjects.
Exploitation is a major theme in the book, particularly since Irene is Gil’s sole subject, and he has painted her for years in a variety of attitudes and positions, some of them pornographic and humiliating, and earned a handsome living through his efforts. Irene’s last name, from her Native American side, is America. The book’s title comes from a Native game Irene has taught the family, in which the objective is to step on someone else’s shadow, which is equated with the soul.
Advertisement
Advertisement