Ann Walker
6/13/2019
I love Erdrich's writing - such beauty and lyricism! - though I found the plotting in this one a bit hard to follow. I would have enjoyed a little bit more about the framing story characters, the mother-and-daughter antique dealers who, because of a slender familial thread, answered the call of the Painted Drum and returned it to its rightful owners. The magical realism aspects of the story were enchanting, and the realism-realism aspects were distressing. I enjoy Erdrich's books but they always leave me feeling frustrated and angry at the sad state of things.