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Stuck in a snow storm in a car en route home from his funeral are several wives and one daughter of Jack Mauser - local constuction magnate gone broke. In order to keep each other awake (and thus hopefully alive), they recount their histories with the larger-than-life man they all loved.
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By betc2 (renton)
It's intersting to read the range of opionions about this book, even among Erdrich fans. I am a big fan. She is one of my favorite writers. Although I have put down a couple of her books, and finished one that I didn't especially like, I think this is right up there among the best.
She is a master of the language and characterization. These characters are believeable, 3-dimensional people. I love the way she lays the words on the page. There are also some very amusing situations.
By Aleksandra Nita-Lazar (MD, USA)
"Tales of Burning Love": what a cunning, deceitful, yet revealing title... I was long waiting to lay my hand on something by Louise Erdrich and this is the first of her novels I have read. I figured out that this is not considered the best one of her works, but I actually liked it quite a lot.
The plot is set in or around Fargo, North Dakota (with occasional changes of setting) - this already made the novel interesting, as my mental image of Fargo is that from the Cohen brothers' "Fargo" (and Erdrich's descriptions fit very well what has already been in my head). The bracket character is Jack Mauser, a part-Native American man, as masculine as a man can be; and as fatally attractive to women. Married five times, Jack has a talent to get involved in risky or suspicious business schemes and when he dies because of one, his four former wives meet at his funeral. On the way back, they get caught in a snowstorm in one car (with the mysterious hitchhiker) and there lies the real essence of this novel, for the women take turns telling the stories of their lives and their relationships with Jack. As the stories unravel, the reader gets to know better all four: Eleanor (my favorite character - I could relate to her best), the meticulous and neurotic scientist, doing research at the nunnery, a daughter of a circus acrobat and of a funeral home owner; Candice, a perfectionist, a dentist, who has everything thought out, but surprises herself with unexpected love; Marlis, a would-be artist with no morals; and Dot, a solid, down-to earth accountant. They reveal a lot of tender feelings and intimate details, and each shows her unique personality. How the women so different can be infatuated with one man... It makes me wonder. From their stories, a complex portrait of Jack emerges.
The snowstorms clasp the whole novel, the first one in which Jack loses his first wife, and the one after the funeral. I liked this, as well as the role of the fire in the story. The novel is full of unexpected turns, and when it seems to slow down, something happens to wake the reader up - at the beginning I though I would not like it, but after the first chapter I really got into it. The spiritual aspect mixes with the physical, the feminine with the masculine, so that the whole range of human endeavors is explored. And be really aware, that the title, although it seems to promise a romance novel (as well as the strange, for me not very appealing, cover), is really tricky and can be understood only while reading.
By Yolanda S. Bean (Chicago, IL)
This was a pretty good book. I enjoyed the writing - as well as the ridiculous situation that brings four ex-wives of the same man together. The identity of the hitchhiker was even a surprise to me. All in all, it was certainly strange, but I certainly enjoyed reading it. I liked the way the different stories came through each P.O.V
By JC (Boston, MA)
I think I found this book by Louise Erdrich possibly the most consistently interesting book in the series, all of which I enjoyed. There's never a dull passage, and honestly the characters are easier to understand, if not always relate to, than a memorable but so "strange" (for lack of a better word) character than Fleur Pillager. I didn't like Jack Mauser one bit, though, but maybe I wasn't supposed to like him. And I'm glad I didn't read the Publisher's Weekly review before reading this, either, considering all the spoilers.
By Anonymous (Illinois USA)
Excellent book, jumps around a bit, but really wonderful.
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