The Plague Of Doves

Published in 2009, The Plague of Doves is a work of fiction written by author Louise Erdrich, an enrolled member of the Ojibwe people. The novel was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and won the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award. The novel concerns the ramifications of the horrific murder of the Lochren family, during which five family members were slaughtered and only the infant girl survived. This massacre resulted in the unjust lynching of a group of Native American men, complicating the tense relationships between the Native American and white populations in western North Dakota. The novel works as a murder mystery: The characters must unravel the complex relationships between a thriving Native American manufacturing reservation and the three dying farming towns that border it in order to ascertain the identity of the murderer. The novel interrogates the historical trauma of racism while also depicting the way in which the interactions and often marriages between the Native American and white populations complicate the consequences of these two groups’ persistent tension.

Plot Summary

The novel is set in the 1960s, decades after the murder, although the history of the narrative jumps around significantly. Flashbacks convey much of the narrative, making everything seem like a memory.