This Tender Land by William Kent Krueger
450 pages
ISBN: 9781476749297 (Hardcover)
Published 9/3/19 by Atria Books
Genre: Historical Fiction (my library categorized it into the “Mystery” section?)
Rating: â
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*The cover photo is taken from Goodreads.*
B&N | Goodreads | Amazon
Synopsis
I would usually just put the Goodreads synopsis here, but I thought it was too big of a story to just give a brief rundown.
“Ask me, God’s right here. In the dirt, the rain, the sky, the trees, the apples, the stars in the cottonwoods. In you and me, too. It’s all connected and it’s all God. Sure this is hard work, but it’s good work, because it’s part of what connects us to this land, Buck. This beautiful, tender land.”
Trigger warnings: murder, mention of drugs, talk of alcoholism, child abuseâphysical & mental, prostitution (brothel), and the hint at sexual abuse toward minors/children.
This does have a lot of The Odyssey references. The main character’s name is literally Odysseus. You learn why toward the end of the book.
You start out with a narrator who considers himself a storyteller. He lives along the banks of the Gilead River in a house shaded by a Sycamore tree.
He brings the reader back to 1932 during the midst of the Great Depression when he was a young boy. Odie OâBanion is the narratorâs name, and accompanying him is his older brother, Albert. They are two white boys in an all Indian school called The Lincoln Indian Training Schoolâused to be a military outpost called Fort Sibley. Odie practically lives in the âquiet roomâ here. An old solitary confinement room that held warriors. Only a thin matting of straw layered the dirt floor, and a rusted iron door had a slot for food. He finds comfort in a rat named Faria, who he feeds when given the chance. Their aunt Julia forced Albert and Odie to go to Lincoln, where kids exhaust themselves physically and mentally, because of the death of their parents.
Running the school (hell hole) is Thelma “Black Witch” Brickman, and Clyde Brickman. Horrible people.
The reader also meets Herman Volz, who watches over the carpentry shop, and is the assistant boysâ advisor. He is missing half of his little finger on his right handâa bandsaw accident. He watches over Odie and Albert. There is a kid named DiMarco, the groundskeeper who is violent toward the other kids, and Volz doesnât take any crap from him.
This wouldnât be This Tender Land without the rest of the vagabondsâEmmy Frost and Moses âMoseâ Washington. Emmy is a little girl who lives with her mom, Cora Frost. Cora teaches homemaking skills. Emmyâs father dies in a farming equipment accident. Emmy was flung off the farm equipment, knocking her head, and ended up in a coma for a few days.
Mose isnât deaf, he just doesnât have a tongueâcut out of his head by people who also killed his mother. He uses sign language to communicate, but didnât learn it until Albert and Odie arrived at Lincoln School.
There is a big storm that tears through the town and tragedy ensuesâCora Frost is killed by the tornado. This is the perfect opportunity for Thelma to take her in. No one really understands why she would want to.
Odie and DiMarco get into a fight, which also ends in âtragedy.â When Odie confesses what happens to his brother and Mose, they all take Mr. Frostâs canoe and run away. The planâto get to Saint Louis to see Albert and Odieâs aunt Julia. Julia had been the one to put them in there. She didnât realize just how horrible the school was. She had received letters every year telling her how great the kids have been. Julia even sent money to the school to give to Odie and Albert, but they selfishly held on to it.
There are so many other aspects to this story that I donât even want to mention. I feel like I have already said too much!
Review
Story | There are so many layers to this novel. I appreciated that the kids stayed long enough in each place to create relationshipsâgood or badâand moved on. It may have moved really fast at some point, but I didnât mind it all that much. It was very easy to understand what was happening.The author did great at explaining each scene. I felt like there was more showing than telling.
There is a lot of talk about God and what He means to each character. Odie was on the fence about it. He explains that a lot of things happen that donât make any sense if there is a God. I didnât think I was going to enjoy that aspect of the story, but I found it really interesting. Last year I read The Names They Gave Us by Emery Lord, which talked a lot about religion, but I gave that five-stars as well. Itâs really weird how this reading thing works. I will not get into my views on religion here, but it surprises me what kind of books I end up loving.
Itâs a moving story about friendship, family, and how the land connects us all.
âOf all that weâre asked to give others in this life, the most difficult to offer may be forgiveness.â
Writing | I will admit that the writing in this novel is quality fiction writing. I found nothing that blew me away, but sometimes simple is better. This isnât even a critique. Iâm just letting everyone know. Krueger has excellent word choice and phrasing. There were many beautiful quotes I found woven throughout the story.
Characters | The characters in this book are phenomenal. I honestly think the character development in this was my favorite part. You witness so much inner-turmoil that you wouldnât expect a character to have. There is a lot of love and drama between everyone. They all end up knowing each other in some odd way, and I loved that.
You really get a front row seat to see how terrible the Brickmans actually are. They are so coniveing and ruthless. At first you think Clyde is going to be alright, but then you just learn heâs a tool.
Odie was a great protagonist! He goes through so many mental and physical obsticles. He is passionate about who he cares for. One of his flaws is poor judge of character. They managed to find their way into bad situations because of that. He only has good intentions.
âLove comes in so many forms, and pain is no different.â
Overall | Beautiful story. I think this would make a wonderful book club pick! I couldnât recommend it enough. It is over 400 pages with a lot of words on one page, but I loved every every word. This will definitely make it into my top 5 favorite books of 2019. I canât wait to buy it and put it on my shelves.
Have you read this yet? If so, let me know your thoughts!
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