The Death of Bernadette Lefthand (Red Crane Literature Series) - Hardcover

Querry, Ron

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1878610252 ISBN 13: 9781878610256

Publisher: Red Crane Books, 1993

Synopsis

The murder of a young Pueblo Indian woman sets the stage for a novel which flip-flops between the points of view of Bernadette's younger sister and the white woman for whom Bernadette kept house

About this title

From the Publisher:

"The best novel of its type since Leslie Sitko's Ceremony. The Death Of Bernadette Lefthand should rank among the classics of American fiction." -- Tony Hillerman

Bernadette Lefthand, renowned on the Jicarilla Apache reservation for her beauty and spirited dancing, is found brutally murdered, and her alcoholic husband, Anderson George, has disappeared. Bernadette's grief-stricken sister, Gracie, recalls the young couple's courtship -- traveling to powwows, rodeos, and dance competitions, visiting respected elders and friends on other reservations -- while Starr Stubbs, a white woman for whom Bernadette cleaned house, and an un-named stranger hint at the ineluctable evil that compelled the young lovers to their doom. Red Crane Books sold out its first printing of The Death Of Bernadette Leffhand in three days and these hardcovers have become collector's items. A riveting tale of passion, obsession, and destruction, it provides a striking view of the complexity and bleakness of contemporary Native American life.

1993 Border Regional Library Association Southwest Book Award. Winner Mountains & Plains Booksellers Association 1994 Regional Book Award Winner.

From the Inside Flap:

o regional book awards and overwhelming praise, this haunting first novel about the mysterious death of a young Indian dancer is a stunning portrayal of the spirit and struggles of the Southwest's native peoples.

Even today, amid the sere hills of Arizona and New Mexico, the Navajo believe witchcraft is at work. Some suspect it is the unseen force behind the brutal murder of Bernadette Lefthand, a young woman renowned on the Jicarilla Apache reservation for her beauty and graceful dancing. Others suspect Bernadette's hard-drinking husband, Anderson George, who has inexplicably disappeared. Gracie, Bernadette's teenage sister, tries to make sense of the vortex of doom in which the young couple seems to have been caught, while Bernadette's Anglo employer, Starr Stubbs, and an unnamed stranger reveal a tale of betrayal and tragedy.

In prose rich with the rhythms and colors of the desert highways, Ron Querry--a member of the Choctaw Nation--paints a vivid portrait of the lives o

About this edition

• Publisher: Red Crane Books
• Publication date: 1993
• ISBN 10: 1878610252
• ISBN 13: 9781878610256
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 232