I've read a few Louise Erdrich novels and poems before, but I figured I'd go back and read the book that put her on the literary map. I have the 1993 edition - the one with a few added sections after the original was published in 1984. Thus, my review doesn't necessarily apply to the original or to later editions where sections have been removed.

Overall, I found Love Medicine to be deeply fascinating. It's a family saga, so it's less about a tight plot than it is about following a handful of people through their lives across time. The characters were interesting enough that I wanted to see what they would do next, and combined with Erdrich's effortless prose, this book gets 4 stars from me.

WRITING: Erdrich's prose feels deceptively simple. It flows well and never trips me up and a reader, but it's also very good at balancing showing and telling and inserting figurative language in places where it enhances the reading experience (rather than feeling overwritten). I felt like I could make my way through at a steady pace and I got a firm handle on who people were by being privy to their internal thoughts.

PLOT: This book doesn't necessarily have a strict narrative that guides the action. It's more or less a family saga, featuring two major families and a few side characters as they experience love, loss, betrayal, etc. As a result, each chapter feels almost like a standalone short story, but Erdrich does a brilliant job entertaining each chapter/section so that they clearly build or expand on one another, even as they go in different directions.

I can see how some readers might be confused by the structure, especially since it's not always clear how much time passes or how people are related to one another. I can also see some readers struggling if they're not a fan of family sagas, and a lot of your enjoyment of this book will depend on how much you find the characters interesting.

Personally, I enjoyed following two specific families because I could see how they were woven together over the generations. It's not a story of a rivalry, really, but it is a story of how their fates are tied up with one another. That in itself was enough to keep me interested, as was all the challenges that characters faced by being Indigenous residents of a reservation.

CHARACTERS: There are many characters in this book and I don't want to give a critique of all of them. Thus, I'll just discuss Erdrich's characterization more broadly.

Each character in this book feels both unique and part of a larger web - shaped by their relationships to each other and the challenges that are thrown their way. I liked seeing how different characters reacted to similar things but I also was interested in how Erdrich wrote flaws (such as alcoholism and adultery). In my view, there was no character that felt too flat; all were complex and had their own unique motivations. The drama was captivating, and much was heartbreaking and heartwarming at the same time.

TL;DR: Love Medicine is a compelling family saga that unfolds over a couple of generations, made more vivid by Erdrich's expert prose. Whether or not you enjoy this book will depend on how interesting you find the characters; personally, I thought they were complex and flawed and I kept wanting to see how they navigated the challenges of their lives.

When I first picked up the book in my college library for a book report, I instantly decided I wouldn’t like it. Starting with the cover, a Native American riding a horse. How appealing could a book on Native Americans be to a European girl who knows nothing about them besides what she saw in movies?
Neither the opening was too interesting. Okay, June is a prostitute, gets hooked up by a man in a bar and has sex with him. I sighed. This will be a long read. But the book report assignment said a contemporary adult novel of 350 pages or more. So I nestled deeper into the bed and gave it another shot.
I can’t exactly point out the moment when I realized I couldn’t put the book down. I read it just the same day I brought it home. Little did I know what literary jewel I held in my hands, and what an astonishing world would unfold before my eyes. Needless to say, I got too deep into the story that I forgot to take notes and I had to read it again. At this point, I didn’t mind anymore. Not just that; having it finished for the second time, I ran to the library to pick up more of Louise’s books, The Beet Queen and The Tales of Burning Love.

Louise Erdrich tells an emotional story of two families-the Native American Family of Kashpaws and their “white trash” equivalent, the Lamartines. Following her seven main characters from 1934 up to the 1980’s, each character is represented through its own voice, each one unique and powerful. Louise’s use of language is a topic to discuss on its own; rarely have I read a novel that made me think this is pure poetry. Language is a tool to convey meanings deeper than what they say, a meaning beyond the poor semantics. The struggle of the Kashpaws to find their place in the American society and the struggle of the Lamartines to solve out their own problems, mainly associated to alcohol, domestic violence and poverty will weld into one single struggle when the families unite through a boy, Lipsha Morrissey. Limits between these two, each followed with their own obstacles, will blur; and you will discover that it’s not important who you are, or where you come from. What really counts is the power of love-often destructive, hate, anger, hope and willingness to forgive.
A valuable lesson-don’t judge the book by its covers.It is necessary to read the other novels from her Native American series to fully understand her character’s motivations. Read The Bingo Palace and Tales of Burning Love and you will understand the opening scene of Love Medicine, and many more. Another valuable lesson: always pay attention to the other side of the story.

HOLY PROSE! This book was love medicine for my soul

Storytelling at its best! -- Lori G.

The story had great potential for me but each chapter is narrated by a separate person so it didn’t connect for me.

Love Medicine wasn't the first of Erdrich's books that I read, and in some ways I am glad of that. As a teenager, I think I might have been put off by this accumulation of perspectives, this rush back and forth in time. I first read Medicine in my senior year of college, and then (and now) I was struck most by how full and rich Erdrich's characters are. The Maria Lazarre of St Maria is the domineering Grandma Kashpaw is the obsessively maternal wife of Nector is the passionate and true friend of Lulu. She is all of these. In a weird way, reading this book reminded me of how it feels to look at a Vermeer. Each new section is like watching someone from behind a half closed door and glimpsing their back or a hand holding up a glass or hearing a laugh; you know there is more to this person than you can see, but that one glimpse feels so perfect, so intense, that you don't feel let down. You just wait for another glimpse.

I really enjoyed the narratives and the poetic language. The only downside was that Erdrich had so many characters and plot lines, that the novel seemed fragmentary at times. A whole novel could have been devoted to many of the characters and their dilemmas. I look forward to reading more of Erdrich's contemporary North Dakota novels to see if any of these threads are fleshed out.