Louise Erdrich: LaRose

Louise Erdrichin romaani on erikoislaatuinen kuvaus kahdesta perheestä, joista toisen isä ampuu toisen pojan metsästysonnettomuudessa: LaRose (Corsair, 2016; ISBN 978-1-4721-5186-5).



Romaanin nimi viittaa LaRose-poikaan, joka annetaan kuolleen pojan perheen kasvatettavaksi, ikään kuin korvaamaan kuoleman seurauksia.

Erdrich luo kuvaamistaan ihmisistä moniulotteisia, mutta paikka paikoin aineksia tuntui olevan niin paljon että romaani oli hajota palasiksi. Kirjailijalla on kuitenkin taitoa melkoisesti, niin että lukeminen houkutti loppuun asti, ja sain kuin sainkin teoksen luettua ennen kuin se piti palauttaa kirjastoon, sillä varauksia oli odottamassa melkoinen jono.

Late summer in North Dakota, 1999: Landreaux Iron stalks a deer along the edge of the property bordering his own. He shoots with easy confidence but only when he staggers closer does he realise he has killed his neighbour's son. Dusty Ravich, the deceased boy, was best friends with Landreaux's five-year-old son, LaRose. The two families have been close for years and their children played together despite going to different schools. Landreaux is horrified at what he's done; fighting off his longstanding alcoholism, he ensconces himself in a sweat lodge and prays for guidance. And there he discovers an old way of delivering justice for the wrong he's done. The next day he and his wife Emmaline deliver LaRose to the bereaved Ravich parents. Standing on the threshold of the Ravich home, they say, 'Our son will be your son now'. LaRose is quickly absorbed into his new family. Gradually he's allowed visits with his birth family, whose grief for the son and brother they gave away mirrors that of the Raviches. The years pass and LaRose becomes the linchpin that links both families. As the Irons and the Raviches grow ever more entwined, their pain begins to subside. But when a man who nurses a grudge against Landreaux fixates on the idea that there was a cover-up the day Landreaux killed Dusty - and decides to expose this secret - he threatens the fragile peace between the two families...