The Mighty Red

Pulitzer winner Erdrich (The Night Watchman) follows the folks of the Red River Valley of North Dakota—the original home to the Ojibwe, the Dakota, and the Metis—in a captivating tale of love and everyday life amid environmental upheaval and the 2008 financial crisis. Crystal hauls sugar beets on the Geist family farm and counts her pennies while her partner, Martin, a failed actor who moonlights as a traveling arts teacher, spends money on impractical delights like salsa dancing. They share a daughter, Kismet, 18, who’s reviled at her high school for being a goth until Geist scion Gary falls in love with her. Kismet initially rejects Gary, but she’s softened by his persistence and agrees to marry him, a prospect Crystal opposes. Then there’s Kismet’s other suitor, Hugo, a bookish romantic who makes her laugh. At 16, Hugo plans to earn money in the fracking oil fields and save enough to steal Kismet away. The plot thickens when Martin disappears along with the local Catholic church’s renovation fund and when reports surface of a bank robber named the Cutie Pie Bandit, who earns their name for being disguised as characters like Rasputin. Threaded throughout the book are references to a tragic accident that ultimately resolves in a satisfying conclusion. Along the way, Erdrich digs deep into the effects of crop farming, pesticides, and the destruction of topsoil on the characters’ livelihoods. Erdrich excels at the slow simmer, and once again she delivers a deliciously seductive masterwork. Agent: Andrew Wylie, Wylie Agency. (Oct.)