A stranger visits a small town to uncover the truth about the
short, tragic life of a Native American woman in 1960s South
Dakota.Born into poverty to a Dakota mother and a black father she
never met, Elsie Roberts never fit in with the Native American or
white communities. Cleaning houses and looking after her sick
mother, Elsie's life takes a terrible turn one winter day when she
is brutally raped and left for dead by four joyriding white
teenagers. She beats the odds and regains consciousness to discover
not only that her mother has died-but that the boys who hurt her
were killed in a car wreck the very night of her attack. After she
recovers, a local church intervenes and gets the vulnerable-seeming
young woman a new job in a nearby town where she keeps to herself
but seems to find some happiness doing beadwork and receiving
visitors. Striking yet childlike, Elsie also has a strange effect
on some of the local men, including the young Catholic priest she
works for, and the rancher husband of a well-meaning white woman
who befriends her. After Elsie is murdered while walking home one
night, the gossiping about her only intensifies when the top two
suspects in her slaying are found dead. Could it be that Elsie was
really the seductive embodiment of the "Deer Woman," an avenging
force in native legend? Or just a lost soul who never had a chance?
And what about the mummified baby found in her cabin? Told via
flashbacks to an unnamed narrator somehow connected to Elsie, this
frequently sad story is most interesting when showing the
intersection of modern and Native life, such as Elsie's attempts to
tan her own deer hides using ancient methods.The blend of murder
mystery and Native American legend can be intriguing, but Elsie,
who never speaks for herself, remains an enigma, making it hard to
see her as anything other than a victim. (Kirkus Reviews)
Beaten, raped, and left for dead at the side of a road on the
Standing Rock Reservation, the young Elsie Roberts disappears into
her self to revisit the haunts of her childhood and, perhaps, in
the depths of her experience to uncover the deepest mystery of all.
In Elsie's Business, Elsie's search through her own memories
ultimately intersects with the search of a stranger who is seeking
Elsie's story. A picture emerges of a poor child, half black and
half Native, whose mother has barely eked out a living for the two
of them by tanning deerskins and cleaning houses. Rebuilding her
life in a different town as a housekeeper, tanner, and beader of
moccasins and bags, much like her mother, the taciturn Elsie finds
modest comfort and connections among the white people who employ
and befriend her. But her peace is fleeting, for someone from her
past or possibly her present would like to see her silenced
completely. A mystery of mesmerizing suspense and sadness, Elsie's
Business weaves the story of a ravaged woman into the traditional
tales of her people to create a vivid sense of communities bound by
storytelling and understanding and sundered by ignorance and
silence. English at the University of Arizona.
General
Imprint: |
Bison Books
|
Country of origin: |
United States |
Series: |
Native Storiers: A Series of American Narratives |
Release date: |
October 2006 |
First published: |
October 2006 |
Authors: |
Frances Washburn
|
Dimensions: |
216 x 140 x 12mm (L x W x T) |
Format: |
Paperback - Trade
|
Pages: |
216 |
ISBN-13: |
978-0-8032-9865-1 |
Categories: |
Books >
Fiction >
General & literary fiction >
Modern fiction
|
LSN: |
0-8032-9865-X |
Barcode: |
9780803298651 |
Is the information for this product incomplete, wrong or inappropriate?
Let us know about it.
Does this product have an incorrect or missing image?
Send us a new image.
Is this product missing categories?
Add more categories.
Review This Product
No reviews yet - be the first to create one!