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This Tender Land

William Kent Krueger

Start date: August 27, 2021

Finish date: September 29, 2021

Why we're reading this: This Tender Land is Franklin Afternoon Book Discussion's September selection! This book club will be held…more
[close] This Tender Land is Franklin Afternoon Book Discussion's September selection! This book club will be held in person at Franklin Avenue Library on Monday, 9/13 at 1:00 PM. Visit our website or call 515-248-4152 to register or for more details, including current COVID-19 guidelines and restrictions.

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Sep 05, 2022 Rosemary rated it it was amazing

I had never heard of this book, but I checked it out as part of our all city reads book. I'm so glad I did! Once I started reading I was transported into the world of Odie, Albert, Mose, and Emmy. I had to keep reading and finished the book in one weekend--no easy feat considering it is a 450 page book. I couldn't put the book down until I knew how Odie resolved is issue with the Tornado God, how Albert used his skills, how Mose came to terms with his identity, and how Emmy stayed safe. Well wor ...more

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Apr 16, 2020 Becky rated it it was amazing

Loved this so much
Read again in 2021. This book is destined to become one of the great works of literature of this century. There are echoes of many other great works of literature, including the obvious “The Odyssey” (the main character is Odysseus, or Odie), Great Expectations by Dickens, Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain and Elmer Gantry by Sinclair Lewis. Also "The Wizard of Oz"? Beyond that, I saw themes of miracles, 1932 style old time religion (the orphaned children canoeing down the Gilead Loved this so much
Read again in 2021. This book is destined to become one of the great works of literature of this century. There are echoes of many other great works of literature, including the obvious “The Odyssey” (the main character is Odysseus, or Odie), Great Expectations by Dickens, Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain and Elmer Gantry by Sinclair Lewis. Also "The Wizard of Oz"? Beyond that, I saw themes of miracles, 1932 style old time religion (the orphaned children canoeing down the Gilead River), white cruelty toward native Americans, white cruelty towards Jewish people, faith, forgiveness, love, home, sacred land, and the long arc of history.

Krueger's epic tale weaves his mythic tale with 130 characters (I did not count them, but that is what others told me), all of them essential to the plot. Almost all of the characters are complex, with both good and bad traits revealed. Our four main characters are orphans, including two who are sixteen- year-olds, Mose and Albert. Mose is Sioux Indian and mute. Albert is 12-year-old Odie’s brother, both white. Emmy is only six, and is loved and protected by the other three on their journey. Each is pursuing a goal on the quest: Albert to protect Odie, Mose to find out who he is, Emmy too young to know yet, and Odie to find HOME.

The entire book is a faith journey. Horrible abuse exists at the Indian school where the orphans live at the beginning of the book, as evidenced by a former resident painting “WELCOME TO HELL” on the water tower. At that point Odie fundamentally believes in God. Albert doesn’t. He says “Shepherds eat their flock one by one”. As the abuses pile up and Emmy's mother dies in a tornado, the orphan group runs away in dramatic fashion. Odie has lost his faith. He paints “GOD IS A TORNADO” on the water tower.

They encounter many people as they canoe up the Gilead River from southwest Minnesota to St. Paul, then continue the odyssey to St. Louis. These people are terrifying, dangerous, fraudulent, helpful, loving, nurturing, and in many individuals, a mixture of all of these. All expand the Vagabond's knowledge of the world, moving them along in their individual quests and in Odie’s faith journey. Each time they return to their canoe in the river they have a sense of calm and family. Though their ties to each other are sometimes frayed, their contributions to each other and those around them lead to a satisfying end of the journey for each.

The structure of the book works well. Grandfather- age Odie in the Prolog lets us know he survives, grows wiser, and learns that “this tender land” will protect him. The Epilog lets us know that great-grandfather Odie eventually marries the girl he loves and most importantly builds a HOME that he shares with his now elderly “sister” Emmy, on the very hill where the night sky lights up with a million fireflies that looked like peace on earth during their journey. The five parts to the story nestled between prolog and epilog narrate the legs of their journey.
Great Book! Five Stars!
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