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This Tender Land: A Novel

In the summer of 1932, on the banks of Minnesota’s Gilead River, Odie O’Banion is an orphan confined to the Lincoln Indian Training School, a pitiless place where his lively nature earns him the superintendent’s wrath. Forced to flee after committing a terrible crime, he and his brother, Albert, their best friend, Mose, and a brokenhearted little girl named Emmy steal away in a canoe, heading for the mighty Mississippi and a place to call their own. Over the course of one summer, these four orphans journey into the unknown and cross paths with others who are adrift, from struggling farmers and traveling faith healers to displaced families and lost souls of all kinds. With the feel of a modern classic, This Tender Land is an enthralling, big-hearted epic that shows how the magnificent American landscape connects us all, haunts our dreams, and makes us whole.

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464 pages

Average rating: 8.09

662 RATINGS

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Community Reviews

Margaret.n.f
Mar 30, 2025
7/10 stars
Not my favorite of WKK’s books but still enjoyable. Felt a bit like his attempt at writing Huckleberry Finn. I could have enjoyed reading just part 1 with more character development as the story in full.
Camzozo
Feb 27, 2025
8/10 stars
Krueger transported me into the world of the vagabonds and their stories. Enjoyable read. A little clunky at times but it all comes together in the end.
Anonymous
Jan 14, 2025
8/10 stars
This Tender Land is a modern day literary classic. William Kent Krueger draws from Mark Twain, Charles Dickens and The Odyssey to weave the story of Odie, Albert, Mose and Emmy. The characters are memorable and the plot has several great twists. I particularly enjoyed all the different themes the author touches on including family and coming to terms with our past. Highly recommend.
LTC
Nov 20, 2024
Book #50: Both Kelly and Karen nominated. This meeting was hosted via Zoom!
spoko
Oct 21, 2024
6/10 stars
The writing style was pretty blunt and a bit heavy-handed, and it sometimes felt like the author was playing Marginalized-Identities Bingo (I completed my G column with the Catholic-Jewish lesbian couple, for what it’s worth).

But I was reading it for a book club, and it wasn’t bad enough that I decided not to bother. If that sounds like mediocre praise, well.

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