Louise Erdrich’s book The Sentence is set in a bookshop in Minneapolis during the time of the Covid epidemic. Tookie is a Native American woman who has just been released from prison after incarceration for a crime which she did not really commit – she was too trusting and naive. She works in the bookshop and has recently married. A regular customer of the shop has died but her ghost now appears regularly on the premises – the only thing that can banish the spirit is to find the perfect sentence.
There are lots of strands in this novel. There is the hunt for a way to banish the ghost, the restrictions of Covid, Tookie’s attempts to make a new life and a new family after prison, the death of George Floyd and the associated riots, and the daily life of a bookseller. They all fit together well because the author has created in Tookie a strong woman character who lives in the real world, has few illusions left but who wants to do what is right.
Because of the setting for the events the book contains lots of allusions to literature and plenty of quotations. I loved these and they really enhanced this story. The book has serious themes but also a touch of magical realism and much of it is very funny.
I was recommended to read this author by my friend Melanie and I am very grateful to her for her recommendation. I thought that this book was brilliantly written and I was gripped by it. I shall now have to look for other books by this writer.
Anne Is Reading 