The Mighty Red

A Novel

By: Louise Erdrich

Narrated by: Marin Ireland

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A READ WITH JENNA BOOK CLUB PICK • A FINALIST FOR THE KIRKUS PRIZE FOR FICTION

"[A] sweeping, tender-hearted epic." —Harper's Bazaar

In this stunning novel, Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award–winning author Louise Erdrich tells a story of love, natural forces, spiritual yearnings, and the tragic impact of uncontrollable circumstances on ordinary people’s lives.

History is a flood. The mighty red . . .

In Argus, North Dakota, a collection of people revolve around a fraught wedding.

Gary Geist, a terrified young man set to inherit two farms, is desperate to marry Kismet Poe, an impulsive, lapsed Goth who can't read her future but seems to resolve his.

Hugo, a gentle red-haired, home-schooled giant, is also in love with Kismet. He’s determined to steal her and is eager to be a home wrecker.

Kismet's mother, Crystal, hauls sugar beets for Gary's family, and on her nightly runs, tunes into the darkness of late-night radio, sees visions of guardian angels, and worries for the future, her daughter’s and her own.

Human time, deep time, Red River time, the half-life of herbicides and pesticides, and the elegance of time represented in fracking core samples from unimaginable depths, is set against the speed of climate change, the depletion of natural resources, and the sudden economic meltdown of 2008-2009. How much does a dress cost? A used car? A package of cinnamon rolls? Can you see the shape of your soul in the everchanging clouds? Your personal salvation in the giant expanse of sky? These are the questions the people of the Red River Valley of the North wrestle with every day.

The Mighty Red is a novel of tender humor, disturbance, and hallucinatory mourning. It is about on-the-job pains and immeasurable satisfactions, a turbulent landscape, and eating the native weeds growing in your backyard. It is about ordinary people who dream, grow up, fall in love, struggle, endure tragedy, carry bitter secrets; men and women both complicated and contradictory, flawed and decent, lonely and hopeful. It is about a starkly beautiful prairie community whose members must cope with devastating consequences as powerful forces upend them. As with every book this great modern master writes, The Mighty Red is about our tattered bond with the earth, and about love in all of its absurdity and splendor.

A new novel by Louise Erdrich is a major literary event; gorgeous and heartrending, The Mighty Red is a triumph.

©2024 Louise Erdrich (P)2024 HarperCollins Publishers

Author should have narrated

Where was Louise? Marine was not up to par. Missed opportunity. Nothing else to say, 15 word minimum.

Narration was fantastic

Unfortunately I didn’t think the story was. I typically love Louise Erdrich books and although her beautiful writing style was there, the story wasn’t for me.

So, so good.

This book is one of my favorites by Erdrich. They are all great, but this one was really special. The narrator was perfect in every way. I can’t wait to listen again.

Sad and funny at the same time

Louise is a genius. This book is great. I might start it over from the beginning.

Great listen.

The narrator is excellent, and she fit the main character well. And the story is very well done! Loved it!

another wonderful novel

What I really enjoy about Erdrich is how the stories of being Indigenous are woven throughout in both subtle and central ways. The narrator was also excellent.

My new favorite book!

Loved the characters, character development, narration, overall story, and finding light through and at the end of the darkness.

I love Louise Erdrich writing! But I would not say this is her best.

Nothing really grabbed me in this story. I like her other writings much better. ( like the Tracks era)

Read this book

This is a stellar novel, and I hope you read it.

Like with other Louise Erdrich tales, these character are going to live rent free in my head, flawed and beautiful and striving all at the same time. Much like this reader (perhaps that’s the draw).

Without giving anything away, I appreciate Erdrich’s ability to throw a big jumble of confusion at you and then slowly put things in order. It’s absolutely compelling, discovering the ‘why’ behind seemingly random or irrational character behavior. The story arc in The Mighty Red kept me turning pages long into the night until my curiosity was finally satisfied.

The voice actor reading the Audible production did a nice job keeping the many characters and dialogue clear in my mind and added a new dimension to the storytelling that I worked we’ll, I would read more of their work without hesitation.

Love Louise Erdrich’s writing!

The backdrop of the metaphysical and the agricultural relationship to the earth enriched the storyline.