clairealex's reviews
729 reviews

This was the first of the Erdrich books I had read, and it was a very good read. The story was compelling, the characters interesting, and the ideas worth thinking about.

And though it stood on its own, as I later read other of her works and recognized recurring characters, I decided to reread it, and it was a whole different experience with the background of the other stories.

An interesting exploration of how we create Others, of how a field of study created an area and its people, more often from the creators than the people being "described."

Although it is long, it was hard to find a place to put it down. Some very interesting characters, especially the women.

I was afraid it would merely be a rerun of Pillars in a new era, but it managed to add a new dimension.

Interesting how Follett created a cast of characters that let him explore various countries' roles in World War I

A page turner. Since I hate reality TV I valued the parody of it. Some good character development.

The plot a page turner. The maids reflect the Mammy stereotype. I would like to see the story written by one of the maids. I recommend Maid in the USA by Mary Romano as a corrective. It is an ethnography about real live maids along with research about labor law and how it hasn't been applied to housemaids.

The dialect was a sad imitation of Black Vernacular English.