A mesmerizing tale of revenge, retribution and forgiveness lies at the core of Louise Erdrich's latest work, Four Souls, in which she reprises characters from Love Medicine and The Beet Queen and returns to a cherished piece of land from Tracks. The story opens with the relentless trek of Fleur Pillager as she seeks revenge on John James Mauser, the man who tricked her into giving up the land where her ancestors had lived for centuries. Fleur follows him to Minneapolis, where he has used trees from that land to build an enormous house with beeswaxed mantels and carved paneling.

To bolster her resolve in carrying out her quest, Fleur takes on the secret name given to her mother, Four Souls. In chapters alternating with Fleur's present story, her past is recalled by Nanapush, her adoptive father, who recalls how Fleur's mother got that name, and why Fleur is now adopting it. Nanapush also serves as the vehicle for Erdrich's warm humor, as he regales the reader with the ups and downs of his relationship with Margaret, his wife.

When Fleur finds Mauser, she surprisingly finds herself pitying him for his physical afflictions; she marries him and bears him a son. But she never loses sight of her ultimate goal, even when an addiction to alcohol takes its toll. Erdrich deftly adds side plots while maintaining the underlying tension of what is behind Fleur's every move. When Fleur finally returns to the reservation, her son (deemed a "hopeless idiot" by some) in tow, the author sets a perfect scene for her last attempt to win back her precious acres.

Erdrich's forte is her ability to weave Ojibwe myths and traditions into her compelling narratives, creating many-faceted characters who seem to come alive before our eyes. Her latest novel continues in that tradition, and Fleur Pillager's saga is destined to become a classic. Copyright 2004 BookPage Reviews.

Erdrich continues her critically acclaimed Ojibwe chronicles with this new installment in the series. Returning to the story of Fleur Pillager, the strong-willed, mysterious Ojibwe heroine she introduced in the 1988 novel Tracks, Erdrich offers up another lyrical tale of loyalty, revenge and kinship. Traveling to Minneapolis from her beloved North Dakota, Fleur is searching for the man who stole and then laid waste to her tribal land. She finds the person she is looking for—an invalid named John James Mauser—ensconced in a fancy mansion presided over by his haughty wife, Placide. Fleur takes a job in the house as a laundress in hopes of having the opportunity to murder Mauser. Instead, she seduces him. Later, Fleur gives birth to their autistic child and takes over the household. But in the end, she feels lonely and burdened and turns to alcohol to ease her wounds. Fleur eventually returns with her son to the reservation and stakes a final claim to her land. In classic Erdrich style, the novel is narrated in turn by various characters, including Nanapush, Fleur's grandfather and his wife, Margaret, and an Indian-hater named Polly Elizabeth, who is Mauser's sister-in-law. The book provides a fascinating look at Ojibwe customs and the inevitable clash of cultures that ensues as the Indians fight to keep their native traditions alive in a predominantly white world. Readers will welcome this return by Erdrich to familiar territory and unforgettable characters.

A reading group guide is available online at www.harpercollins.com. Copyright 2005 BookPage Reviews.