A review by wrenreads2025
Love Medicine by Louise Erdrich

4.0

I taught this novel as part of a survey of American literature. Erdrich's style is similar to Faulkner in that she has multiple narrators and a fragmented time line. Several characters take turns explaining the significance of a young Native American named June who appears in the opening chapter. But we get more than that. We see characters entangled over decades by family ties, love ties, tribal ties, and just the proximity of living together in a small community of a reservation. This novel is one of several that focus on the same set of characters and their extended family members. Rich, engaging and heart breaking. Erdrich is a master storyteller. Not only did I learn about native people of the Great Lakes area, I learned more about the human condition through themes that engage us all: loyalty, sacrifice, jealousy, etc.