In this stunning novel Pulitzer Prize-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. In Argus North Dakota a fraught wedding is taking place. Gary
Geist a terrified young man set to inherit two farms is desperate to marry Kismet Poe. Gary
thinks Kismet is the answer to all of his problems Kismet can't even imagine her future let
alone the kind of future Gary might offer. During a clumsy proposal Kismet misses her chance
to say 'no' and so the die is cast. Hugo has adored Kismet for years. He has been her friend
confidante and occasionally her lover - and now she is marrying Gary Hugo is determined to
steal her back. Meanwhile Kismet's mother Crystal hauls sugar beets for Gary's family and
on her nightly truck drives from the farm to the factories she tunes in to the darkness of
late-night radio sees visions of guardian angels and worries for the future - both her
daughter's and her own. Starkly beautiful like the landscape it inhabits The Mighty Red is
about ordinary people who dream grow up fall in love struggle endure tragedy and carry
bitter secrets. And 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 splendour.
