Passing Through a Prairie Country

In the lively if somewhat convoluted sophomore novel from Ojibwe writer Staples (This Town Sleeps), a 20-something gay man battles ghosts from the past. Marion Lafournier stops into a casino on a Minnesota reservation to do some gambling while reeling from a breakup. There, he’s pursued by a malevolent spirit known as the sandman. His cousin Alana Bullhead, a casino security officer who can see spirits, asks Marion to escort some other ghosts away from the casino and help them “pass on,” as their presence is bad for business. He agrees to the mission but gets sidetracked when he meets journalist Glenn Nieland, who’s working on a story about the ghosts. After Marion declines Glenn’s invitation to go up to his room, he heads outside in search of the ghosts and is confronted by the sandman. The story is hard to follow, and the Glenn story line doesn’t quite connect with the main thread. Staples shines in his exploration of Native American folklore, however, particularly as Marion discovers his calling and Alana hones her ability to see the spirit world. At its best, the novel illuminates how a community attempts to cope with ancestral trauma. This is worth a look. Agent: Eleanor Jackson, Dunow, Carlson & Lerner. (Mar.)