A review by careinthelibrary
Four Souls by Louise Erdrich

4.0

Another wonderful book in the Love Medicine series by Louise Erdrich. I thoroughly enjoyed my read of this. Four Souls dealt more with culture clashes, syncretism, and strategic code-switching and those are some of favourite themes for novels. Although I did really race through Four Souls, I have some hesitation arises from how this novel doesn't seem to stand up as a standalone. I'm not sure how you could read this book and find it rich in character development without having previously read Tracks. So I recommend first reading Tracks if you're interested in picking up this series. That being said, I did read Tracks, so I loved revisiting familiar faces. Nanapush, Margaret, Fleur. Seeing where they are further down the path of life. How they have changed since the loss of their land. Fleur was definitely a compelling character in Four Souls, but I missed her true perspective. I felt we were seeing her actions through the eyes of another for the majority of the novel. I wanted to be inside her head and understand her motivations and anxieties and I missed that intimate character study. However, the portions of the novel narrated by Nanapush were even more witty and sly than his portion in Tracks. He had me laughing out loud as his craftiness unfolding. Ultimately, whether or not this stands on its own two feet without Tracks, it was enjoyable for me and I am so glad I started reading this series.