Perma Red, Debra Magpie Earling
Perma Red, Debra Magpie Earling
List: $24.99 | Sale: $17.50
Club: $12.49

Perma Red

Author: Debra Magpie Earling

Narrator: Katie Anvil Rich, Jason Grasl

Unabridged: 8 hr 42 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 05/09/2023

Categories: Fiction, Indigenous


Synopsis

On the Flathead Indian Reservation, summer is ending, and Louise White Elk is determined to forge her own path. Raised by her Grandmother Magpie after the death of her mother, Louise and her younger sister have grown up into the harsh social and physical landscape of western Montana in the 1940s, where Native people endure boarding schools and life far from home. As she approaches adulthood, Louise hopes to create an independent life for herself and an improved future for her family—but three persistent men have other plans.

Since childhood, Louise has been pursued by Baptiste Yellow Knife, feared not only for his rough-and-tumble ways, but also for the preternatural gifts of his bloodline. Baptiste's rival is his cousin, Charlie Kicking Woman: a man caught between worlds, torn between his duty as a tribal officer and his fascination with Louise. And then there is Harvey Stoner. The white real estate mogul can offer Louise her wildest dreams of freedom, but at what cost?

As tensions mount, Louise finds herself trying to outrun the bitter clutches of winter and the will of powerful men, facing choices that will alter her life—and end another's—forever.

About Debra Magpie Earling

Debra Magpie Earling is the author of Perma Red and The Lost Journals of Sacajewea. An earlier version of the latter, written in verse, was produced as an artist book during the bicentennial of the Lewis and Clark expedition. She has received both a National Endowment for the Arts grant and a Guggenheim Fellowship. She retired from the University of Montana where she was named professor emeritus in 2021. She is Bitterroot Salish.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Carol

I bought this book at a writing conference near Portland where Debra Magpie Earling was one of the keynote speakers. Her writing is unbelievably strong, feminine, vivid, heartbreaking. So on a break, I drove over to Powells and promptly bought it. I even worked up the courage to have her sign it. I......more

Goodreads review by Kerry

This book is probably one of the best books I have read in a while. It’s the February choice for the Indigenous Reading Circle book group, and a great choice. The story takes place in 194Os Montana on a reservation near Perma. The main character Louise is a mixed race redhead hence the title Perma R......more

Goodreads review by Yosi

This was a rough read. The writing was beautiful and the story was heartbreaking. It follows a young Native American woman, Louise White Elk, on a reservation in Montana as she’s basically just trying to survive in a world where everything is stacked against her. A big part of the story is her relat......more

Goodreads review by Miranda

Lolita on the rez?......more