The character, Fleur Pillager, harkens back to one of Louise Erdrich's most memorable works, Tracks, which made the New York Times bestseller list and was among her first works following the lives of contemporary Native Americans.

Powerful medicine, Four Souls, Erdrich's newest work, is a study in Fleur's journey from loss to redemption. Erdrich writes with a depth of poetry derived from the very heart of humanity. It is human beings Erdrich knows best, and the mystery and contradictions intrinsic in their need and their power.

The story, told by two narrators: Polly Elizabeth Gheen, who speaks of Fleur in the city; and old Nanapush, a native elder whose hilarious personal tribulations gives readers a sense of life on the reservation. In contrast with the dying of old ways this artful devise reflects parallel worlds.

Fleur Pillager is a force. When her land and trees are lost to the ambitious white man, John James Mauser, Fleur seeks her revenge. She leaves the reservation and sets out to the cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul, where Mauser resides in his great white mansion paneled with the warm wood of her homeland. She finds him there sick onto dying and instead of killing him she heals him.

Mauser, a married man, lives with his wife Placide and her sister Polly Elizabeth Gheen. Fleur heals Mauser, set on her revenge to kill him. But the tables turn when Mauser falls in love with Fleur who sees this as a new path to fulfillment. When their child is born Polly Elizabeth returns to the household to take care of Fleur and her newborn son, satisfying a deep sense of loneliness derived from spinsterhood and childlessness. Inexplicably, Polly comes to understand, even love Fleur and the boy.

When Mauser's great wealth unravels and he abandons Fleur and the boy, she makes her way back to the reservation and reunites with her spirit, that part of herself so long abandoned.

Nanapush tells his tales of life on the reservation laced with intimate details of his relationship with his wife Margaret. Nanapush's stories are filled with nonsense and are often hilarious. His story reflects upon deep love, ancient traditions and the challenges faced by Native Americans in the 20^th century. It is this world Fleur returns to.

Erdrich is one of the true poets of this century. Her works are an artful blend of metaphor and humor laced with a depth of understanding of the human heart.

Four Souls is a slim volume that packs a big wallop. Read it. You will be rewarded by its riches.

--Jenny Southlynn