Rachel Reviews: This Tender Land by William Kent Krueger

I can only imagine what it must be like to be an orphan. It's not a place that feels comfortable and William Kent Krueger does nothing to disabuse of you of this notion in this novel.

At the start of the book, Odie and his brother, Albert are in a school for orphans which also serves as a school for Native Americans which ostensibly means a place to have their culture and language drummed out of them. As a result, it is also a place for misfits and it is run by someone who cares little for the children who have been placed there. They can easily be forgotten and for Thelma Brickman, the headmistress, this is a convenience that enables her to manage the school with cruelty and unreserved contempt for her charges.

Odie, in particular, incurs the wrath of "The Black Witch" as he calls her, with his defiant spirit and subversive behaviour. There are not many kind people in the school although the carpenter and caretaker Volz is one. He often helps Odie and as Albert is a talented in a practical way and particularly as a mechanic, he often has Albert as his helper. But brutality is never far away and is manifested mainly in the character of DiMarco, gardener and caretaker who takes pleasure from the pain he inflicts and when this can be done without the fear of retribution, it is all the more dangerous. In fact, one of the most tense moments in the book is when Odie has a confrontation with DiMarco.

You probably won't be surprised to learn from my description above that Odie and Albert, along with their friends Moses and Emmy, decide to run away and this is where the real adventure starts. The Black Witch pursues them though and with the ultimate destination of St. Louis involving a trip down river, Krueger entertains us by following them along their journey. It is full of action as the children have encounters with characters that they meet, some wholesome, some less so but it all makes for good reading.

Comparisons to Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn are apt but this is a tale all of its own with twists as well as discussion-prompting moments about the treatment of Native Americans and homosexuals along with faith and what this constitutes

A really enjoyable coming-of-age tale.

Rachel Rating: ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐