Ledfeather
Set on the Blackfeet Reservation in Montana, and spanning 125 years, this is a mesmerizing tale of characters bound by the mystical ties of familial love, death wishes, and survival. Opening with the near death of Doby Saxon from exposure, the tale leads the reader backward and forward in Doby’s pathetic life, always returning to his futile attempt at killing himself by stepping in front of speeding cars near the Starr School. The scene shifts to 1884, and the letters written by an Indian agent on the Blackfeet Reservation to his wife—letters never sent, never opened. He witnesses the attempts of a 12-year-old Blackfeet boy to stone himself to death. The two stories are tied by characters and emotions, coincidence and magic realism—but ultimately by Blackfeet author Jones’ deft portraits of the seemingly hopeless life on this reservation, years apart but similar in myriad ways. His depiction of how small events eventually lead to apparently preordained outcomes, and how these outcomes come full circle over decades, is masterful. --Deborah Donovan