Book Review: This Tender Land by William Kent Krueger

This Tender Land
by William Kent Krueger

“Does anyone ever get used to having their heart broken?”

Minnesota author William Kent Krueger offers up a powerful look at faith – both that forced by rote and that earned by life’s experiences, and what makes a family truly a family, with this tale of four youth on the run, looking for where they can be safe, and trying to survive in the Depression-era Midwest.

Storyteller Odysseus “Odie” O’Banion is the pre-teen narrator of this coming-of-age story. It starts in the brutal world of an Indian School in Minnesota, where Odie and his older brother Albert are the only two Caucasians in a school for Indian youth – the purpose of which is to remove all traces of the students’ Indian-ness. Dangerous circumstances force the brothers to flee from the school, with an Indian youth who can only speak in sign language, and a 6-year-old orphan girl they are protecting. Taking a canoe, the foursome plans to journey by river from Minnesota to St. Louis, MO, where the potential promise of a distant relative seems to offer them hope.

Much like the rivers they float upon, this story meanders along a slow but steady path, as the foursome encounter a rogue’s gallery of colorful supporting characters – including a one-eyed farmer who holds them captive for forced labor, a Native American bounty hunter, train-hopping hobos, a homeless camp of Depression victims, a kindly family of ghetto-ized Jews in a shantytown by St. Paul, a boardinghouse owner offering room and food, and a faith healer who may or may not actually have miraculous powers.

This story is part Grapes of Wrath, and part Huckleberry Finn, and is essentially an updating of Homer’s The Odyssey in a more modern setting. In addition to his long-running Cork O’Connor series, Krueger is best known for his previous stand-alone novel, Ordinary Grace (2013). This Tender Land was originally to have been a companion volume to Ordinary Grace, but Krueger was unsatisfied with his finished novel, and shelved that, focusing all his creative energy on This Tender Land instead.

This novel is filled with fascinating and well-drawn characters. It contrasts youthful innocence and wonder, against the harsh realities of life and cruelties of average ordinary humans – all set in a time and placed filled with crushing poverty and the sense of loss that permeated the Great Depression. This Tender Land ultimately reveals the power and impact that kindness and compassion can have when employed by honest characters.

[ official This Tender Land page on the official This Tender Land web site ]

See also: Jodi R.’s recent review of This Tender Land here on BookGuide in January 2020

Recommended by Scott C.
Bennett Martin Public Library – Public Service

This Tender Land is one of the 2020 One Book - One Lincoln Top Ten finalists.

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