LaRose by Louise Erdrich is another of her novels about the Ojibwe people of North Dakota. This one opens with Landreaux, a recovered alcoholic, out hunting deer, and mistakenly shooting and killing his neighbors five year old son. As everyone involved is devastated by this accident, Landreaux turns to an old Ojibwe tradition of giving his five year old son LaRose to his neighbors in retribution.

What follows is one of the most painful, brilliant and ultimately redeeming novels I’ve reading in a long time. Erdrich is an incredible writer and storyteller. I found this book both amazing and hard to get through because of its stark honesty and unflinching look at grief, family, justice and how we cope with the unthinkable. The character of LaRose is a marvel, not soon to be forgotten.