GARDENS IN THE DUNES: A Novel
A sweeping, multifaceted tale of a young Native American pulled between the cherished traditions of a heritage on the brink of extinction and an encroaching white culture, Gardens in the Dunes is the powerful story of one woman’s quest to reconcile two worlds that are diametrically opposed.
At the center of this struggle is Indigo, who is ripped from her tribe, the Sand Lizard people, by white soldiers who destroy her home and family. Placed in a government school to learn the ways of a white child, Indigo is rescued by the kind-hearted Hattie and her worldly husband, Edward, who undertake to transform this complex, spirited girl into a “proper” young lady. Bit by bit, and through a wondrous journey that spans the European continent, traipses through the jungles of Brazil, and returns to the rich desert of Southwest America, Indigo bridges the gap between the two forces in her life and teaches her adoptive parents as much as, if not more than, she learns from them.
At the center of this struggle is Indigo, who is ripped from her tribe, the Sand Lizard people, by white soldiers who destroy her home and family. Placed in a government school to learn the ways of a white child, Indigo is rescued by the kind-hearted Hattie and her worldly husband, Edward, who undertake to transform this complex, spirited girl into a “proper” young lady. Bit by bit, and through a wondrous journey that spans the European continent, traipses through the jungles of Brazil, and returns to the rich desert of Southwest America, Indigo bridges the gap between the two forces in her life and teaches her adoptive parents as much as, if not more than, she learns from them.
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Community Reviews
I’ve been more and more interested in Native American spritual beliefs & traditions as I’ve read more and more of Vine Deloria’s Spirit & Reason (a book I read intermittently—I’ve been reading it for years and have never finished). I don’t like to be essentialist, or to act as though an entire continent full of people all held the same beliefs until the white man came and destroyed their unanimous culture or anything like that. But there are currents running through many Native American cultures, and I’ve been finding something there that I connect with.
Anyway, back to this book. Yes, it was really good overall. But like all epics, it got a bit long-winded and/or dry in parts. The descriptions of garden after garden after garden as they made the trek from New England to Bath to Italy, especially—I wasn’t sure I was going to make it through all that. I happened to stop in the middle of that section to read a couple of other books for an online discussion, and then I had a really difficult time getting back into this book. I’m glad I stuck it out, though, because it did get very interesting again.
As a side note, this is the book that got me back into fiction. For about a year and a half before starting this, I was finding that I couldn’t finish any work of fiction. I tried funny books (A Confederacy of Dunces), short books (House Made of Dawn), even short stories (Eudora Welty, and others), but I couldn’t finish any of it. It was all non-fiction, all the time. Then my wife suggested this book; I have no idea why, I mean it’s so long. But she was right, and it got me back into fiction. So, props for that.
Anyway, back to this book. Yes, it was really good overall. But like all epics, it got a bit long-winded and/or dry in parts. The descriptions of garden after garden after garden as they made the trek from New England to Bath to Italy, especially—I wasn’t sure I was going to make it through all that. I happened to stop in the middle of that section to read a couple of other books for an online discussion, and then I had a really difficult time getting back into this book. I’m glad I stuck it out, though, because it did get very interesting again.
As a side note, this is the book that got me back into fiction. For about a year and a half before starting this, I was finding that I couldn’t finish any work of fiction. I tried funny books (A Confederacy of Dunces), short books (House Made of Dawn), even short stories (Eudora Welty, and others), but I couldn’t finish any of it. It was all non-fiction, all the time. Then my wife suggested this book; I have no idea why, I mean it’s so long. But she was right, and it got me back into fiction. So, props for that.
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