The Round House

I didn't love this *quite* as much as Erdich's The Night Watchman until near the very the end, when I gasped. The quote from a New York Times review on the front cover of my copy talks about family, but I actually think this book is equally about ride-or-die friendship. I'm also not sure if Erdich gets enough credit for how funny she is, even amidst the darkest topics. The plot starts with a violent sex crime committed against an Indigenous woman in an uncertain jurisdictional location (a nightmarish blend of attempted physical and bureaucratic genocide). Erdich also infused the story with the comedic banter of deeply loyal teenage boys, two elders recalling past sexual adventures, and an athletic Catholic priest who levels cutting insults at the "wayward youth" without cursing at all. A deft balance of heavy and light.