DALVA

by Jim Harrison ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 29, 1988

Harrison (Sundog, Warlock, etc.) has only mixed success here with a female character, but otherwise taps deep and true with this portrait of a family on the Nebraska plains. Dalva Northridge, narrator of the book's first and final sections, is a moneyed superwoman--calm genius in the kitchen, sexual, beautiful and competent. She grew up free on the spacious family farm under the enlightened care of her smart, widowed mother Naomi and her part-Sioux grandfather. At 15, she made love to the half-Sioux cowboy, Duane, whom her grandfather had taken in, and got pregnant. When Duane disappeared, her grandfather let on that her love was really her own half-brother. Dalva gave up the child for adoption but nursed a sad longing for Duane (the nightmare terrain of their brief reunion is the emotional centerpiece of the novel). Decades later, Dalva's back home, this time with her sometime-lover Michael, an overweight and alcoholic historian whose abject begging has convinced her to grant him access to her missionary great-grandfather's journals. Michael, narrator of the book's middle section, has some near-uproarious adventures with the locals (a spree at the lazy Daze Tavern and a silly speech at a Rotary Club lunch). He also traces, through the Northridge patriarch's lyrical journals, this gentle man's post-Civl War wanderings through the territories--befriending Sioux warriors, blurring his Christian faith, experimenting with Indian mysticism and nearly losing his mind. Placid Dalva is an unreal (if appealing) character: she swallows her considerable pain, and even her breakdowns are gracious and shot through with connections to nature. As for Michael, he's an amusing caricature of the helpless academic and a neat foil for the vivid journals. Strong landscapes, hilariously sketched walk-on characters and antic detail give richness and humor to a novel that flirts with being a romantic paean to the prairie and the Sioux.

Pub Date: March 29, 1988

ISBN: 0671740679

Page Count: -

Publisher: Dutton

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 1988

Categories: FICTION