ABOUT THE EVENT
The Phoenix Book Club, Phoenixville Public Library’s virtual book discussion group for adults of all ages, will meet on Zoom Monday, May 12 at 7:00 PM. The group will discuss Louise Erdrich’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, The Night Watchman.
It is 1953. Thomas Wazhushk is the night watchman at the first factory to open near the Turtle Mountain Reservation in rural North Dakota. He is also a prominent Chippewa Council member, trying to understand a new bill that is soon to be put before Congress. The US Government calls it an ’emancipation’ bill; but it isn’t about freedom – it threatens the rights of Native Americans to their land, their very identity. How can he fight this betrayal? Unlike most of the girls on the reservation, Pixie – ‘Patrice’ – Paranteau has no desire to wear herself down on a husband and kids. She works at the factory, earning barely enough to support her mother and brother, let alone her alcoholic father who sometimes returns home to bully her for money. But Patrice needs every penny to get if she’s ever going to get to Minnesota to find her missing sister Vera. Erdrich weaves together a story of past and future generations, of preservation and progress. She grapples with the worst and best impulses of human nature, illuminating the loves and lives, desires and ambitions of her characters with compassion, wit and intelligence.
Physical and audiobook copies of this title may be reserved at https://chesp.na.iiivega.com. eBook and eAudiobook copies may be reserved at https://www.chester.overdrive.com. This event is free and open to the public and will be held online via Zoom. If you are not already on the Book Club’s e-mail list, registration is required at https://ccls.libcal.com/calendar/Phoenixville/phoenix-book-club or by calling 610-933-3013 x132 to receive the Zoom invitation. Email mpinto@ccls.org for more information.
610-933-3013 x132
