The Round House

Summary

On a North Dakota Ojibwe reservation in 1988, a thirteen-year-old boy sets out to understand and avenge a violent attack on his mother that has left her withdrawn and unwilling to speak. Erdrich blends a coming-of-age story with a legal and moral mystery, drawing on tribal law, traditional storytelling, and the everyday rhythms of reservation life. The book brought urgent attention to jurisdictional gaps that have long shielded crimes against Native women.