This Tender Land
A Novel
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4.5 • 3K Ratings
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- $12.99
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER!
“If you liked Where the Crawdads Sing, you’ll love This Tender Land...This story is as big-hearted as they come.” —Parade
The unforgettable story of four orphans who travel the Mississippi River on a life-changing odyssey during the Great Depression.
In the summer of 1932, on the banks of Minnesota’s Gilead River, Odie O’Banion is an orphan confined to the Lincoln Indian Training School, a pitiless place where his lively nature earns him the superintendent’s wrath. Forced to flee after committing a terrible crime, he and his brother, Albert, their best friend, Mose, and a brokenhearted little girl named Emmy steal away in a canoe, heading for the mighty Mississippi and a place to call their own.
Over the course of one summer, these four orphans journey into the unknown and cross paths with others who are adrift, from struggling farmers and traveling faith healers to displaced families and lost souls of all kinds. With the feel of a modern classic, This Tender Land is an enthralling, big-hearted epic that shows how the magnificent American landscape connects us all, haunts our dreams, and makes us whole.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
This lively but heavy-handed adventure from Krueger (Ordinary Grace) follows four orphans as they search for safety in Depression-era Minnesota. Storytelling scamp Odysseus "Odie" O'Banion and his more rule-abiding brother Albert are shipped off to the Lincoln Indian Training School after their bootlegger father is murdered. There, along with dozens of Native American children, they endure brutal abuse and neglect; the only bright spot is their friendships with Mose, a teenage Sioux, and Emmy, a precocious girl whose mother, a teacher at the school, is killed by a tornado. After Odie kills the teacher who's been abusing him, the four children escape down the Minnesota River in a canoe, meeting both friends and foes along the way as they try to evade capture, find a home, and hold onto the bond between them. The encounters bring the era to life as the children meet traveling evangelists, Dust Bowl farmers in shanty towns, and ghettoized Jews in the flats of St. Paul. Krueger keeps the twists coming, and the constant threat of danger propels the story at a steady clip. Though overly sentimental prose ("With every turn of the river, we were changing, becoming different people, and for the first time I understood that the journey we were on wasn't about getting to St. Louis") weakens the story's impact, Krueger's enjoyable riff on The Odyssey will satisfy fans of American heartland epics.
Customer Reviews
Can’t wait to read more from this author!
4.5 stars! What can I say? I loved this book! I picked it up because the overall premise seemed like it would be something that would be enjoyable read, with some wisdom insights thrown in. This time period always speaks to me, because it reminds me of my grandparents and my family. While there were bootleggers discussed in this book, my family were also bootleggers, so I enjoyed the entire epic tale. There were a few twists I did not see coming, and the way that the end of the book was wrapped up - I thought it was done nicely.
I do have to draw the line with the two quotes on the cover saying it was similar “Where the Crawdads sing.” The only similarities between the two books were that they involved orphans, natural water sources (Mississippi river in this tender heart, the bayou for WTCS), and that outdoor scenery. I could picture the children riding down the river, similar to the main character riding in her boat in the other book. I’d say that the book reminded me of a bunch of things… from the movies “O, Brother Where Art Thou,” and “Stand By Me,” to Kristin Hammer’s book “The Four Winds.”
While the book didn’t end up being what I expected, it still was a beautiful & bittersweet tale of the great American lands back in the 1930s, as well as the important of family (both chosen & blood), with a wide array of characters. Some parts were haunting and infuriating, to know how badly the American government treated those who were Native Americans or those who didn’t come from money.
A gorgeous coming of age story
From the first word to the last, I loved everything about this novel. The author is a masterful storyteller whose characters grab you and bring you willingly along with them on their emotional coming of age odyssey through a different time and place. Just gorgeous.
A true modern classic
An incredible book. Loved every second of it. Couldn’t put it down.