The Master Butchers Singing Club (Paperback, New ed)

Crack sniper Fidelis Waldvogel survives the First World War because of his ability to remain perfectly motionless. Emigrating from his small German town to America with the widow of his dead comrade, he continues in the family line of master butchers and prospers in the small North Dakotan town of Argus. But his calm exterior hides a heart burdened with overwhelming love and barely controlled rage, constantly threatening to explode. As Fidelis's family and small community grow a new war threatens, patriotic loyalties are split, and he suffers losses he would never have thought endurable, forcing his emotional catatonia to find a means of expression. This is a beautifully imagined and executed story, bursting with characters of such deeply felt and hidden yearnings that one feels the entire emotional landscape of Argus as if it were one's own home town. By turns historical drama, murder mystery, love story and rights of passage fable, The Master Butchers Singing Club is a tight, precisely drawn narrative in which the painful intimacies of an isolated community belie the gruff exteriors of people hardened by war, separation and loss. There is not a wasted word in this novel, not one incompletely drawn character nor a single superfluous sentence. Erdrich captures a profound sense of place in the barren plains of North Dakota, weaving images of the inhospitable landscape seamlessly through the fabric of lives lived on the edge of disaster. There's an existential quality to her prose in the characters' constant skirting of physical and emotional danger and in the ever-present threat of loss and fear of emptiness that they endure. In the breadth of its scope, vision and realization, this is a stunning book by a gifted storyteller. (Kirkus UK)

A powerful novel from one of the most celebrated American writers of her generation, and the winner of the National Book Award for Fiction 2012 In the quiet aftermath of WWI, Fidelis Waldvogel leaves behind his quiet German village, and sets out for America with his new wife Eva - the widow of his best friend, killed in action. Finally settling in North Dakota, Fidelis works hard to build a business, a home for his family - and a singing club consisting of the best voices in town. But his adventure into the New World truly begins when he encounters Delphine Watzka, a local woman whose origins are a mystery, even to her. Delphine meets Eva and is enchanted. She meets Fidelis and the ground trembles... Spanning the decades from the Great War to the fifties, 'The Master Butchers Singing Club' is a gift to readers everywhere, unfolding its themes of love and death, lightness and gravity with the eloquent prose, sly humour, and depth of feeling that only a masterful writer can offer.

General

Imprint:	HarperPerennial
Country of origin:	United Kingdom
Release date:	February 2004
Authors:	Louise Erdrich
Dimensions:	198 x 129 x 27mm (L x W x T)
Format:	Paperback - B-format
Pages:	416
Edition:	New ed
ISBN-13:	978-0-00-713638-4
Categories:	Books > Fiction > General & literary fiction > Modern fiction
LSN:	0-00-713638-2
Barcode:	9780007136384

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