Louise Erdrich packs a lot into this novel. The Mighty Red is about Kismet Poe and the boy she marries and another boy she loves. It is about Kismet’s mother, Crystal, and her constant efforts to keep her family healthy and debt free. It is about sugar beet farming, and how it is ruining the soil, and how it can be prevented. The Mighty Red is also about family secrets, guilt, love and honor.

I run hot and cold with Louise Erdrich. I appreciate and enjoy some of her novels while others I find mediocre and didactic. The Mighty River is a winner! I could relate to the characters, empathize with their problems and easily followed the plot.