The Mighty Red by Louise Erdrich: A review

Any time that I learn that Louise Erdrich has published a new book, I jump on it just as quickly as I can so when I heard about The Mighty Red I made sure to get access to it as soon as possible. It did not disappoint and was, in fact, everything one could wish for in an Erdrich book.

The novel is set in the town of Argus, North Dakota, alongside the Red River that flows north through Minnesota and into Canada following the border between Minnesota and North Dakota. It is an agricultural area and the main crop is sugar beets. 

Sugar beets are the basis of the economy. Most of the families of this area are involved in some way with their production - growing them, harvesting them, transporting them, and processing them. They depend upon sugar beets and their fortunes rise or fall based on the outcome of the year's crop. 

It is 2008/2009 but the author takes us back through the beginnings of sugar beet farming along the Red River. She shows us how the use of fertilizers and pesticides and growing the same crop over and over on the land has depleted the soil. By this point, only the use of genetically modified seeds and toxic chemicals keeps the fields producing. It is a time of recession and the economic downturn has hit the already struggling community hard. 

We experience the story mostly through the character of Crystal Frechette who is a hauler of sugar beets. She works twelve-hour shifts on the highway during which she has plenty of time to worry about her 18-year-old daughter Kismet. When Crystal's husband, Martin, absconds with the town's church renovation fund, she and Kismet are left to live with the consequences of his action.

Kismet has transformed from a goth who had endured the derision of her peers and is now marrying Gary Geist who is set to inherit not one but two farms. Gary suffers from the trauma and fear resulting from a tragic accident and is ruled by his own need for redemption, while Kismet just yearns for escape. Their marriage forms the centerpiece of the novel.

Along with these characters, we also meet: Hugo, a homeschooled boy who is infatuated with Kismet; Eric, Gary's loyal friend; Winnie and Diz, Gary's parents who have their own marital struggles as well as the tension of trying to keep the farm going; and Jeniver, Crystal's lawyer, who possesses a sharp tongue to go with her brilliance. Each of these characters' stories help to fill out the portrait of a community going through changes and facing challenges.

As with so much of Erdrich's writing, the land itself is another character. The harsh climate and fertile soil of the Red River Valley helps to shape the lives of those who live there. The valley's cycle of flood and drought and of planting and harvest are metaphors for the challenges faced by its residents.

Erdrich employs multiple narrators to tell the story of people living through interwoven timelines that are a reflection of the meandering path of the river itself. By the end, she has given us a masterful story that reveals the tapestry of those lives and their environmental impact on the land they occupy. 

My rating: 4 of 5 stars