Last year’s Pulitzer Prize winner has written a timely book set in Minneapolis. The main character, Tookie, has served time, arrested by the man she eventually marries. After she is released, she works in Erdrich’s book store where the ghost of an annoying customer has returned to haunt Tookie. With the help of other employees, Tookie tries to find out why this is happening to her. Along with the haunting, Tookie, her friends, family and neighbors are also dealing with the pandemic and the murder of George Floyd.

I was not enamored with the ghost story or the Native American lore in The Sentence, but I enjoyed Tookie’s discussions of books, customers, the day to day happenings at a small book store, and its survival during the pandemic. Louse Erdrich’s final acknowledgement reads, “If you are going to buy a book, including this one, please visit your nearest independent book store and support its singular vision.” Love it!!