A Yellow Raft in Blue Water: A Novel

Dorris, Michael

ISBN 10: 0805000453 / ISBN 13: 9780805000450

Published by New York, New York, U.S.A.: Henry Holt & Co, 1987

About this Item

NF/na. Very light edge wear, very light rubbing, and very light soiling to bottom of page block. First US Edition. ARC/Proof. "Complimentary Reading copy". Pictorial Wraps. This book is from the extensive Gatenby Collection amassed over 30 years . Gatenby was the founding artistic director of the International Festival of Authors in Toronto, a hugely successful annual event that helped "Time Magazine" declare that Gatenby had made Toronto one of the literary capitals of the world. He also directed the readings at Harbourfront in Toronto, and is the author of "Literary Guide to Toronto," among other books. Gatenby signature and date on ffep. SIGNED by Dorris & INSCRIBED to Gatenby: "Good Voyages". A unique Association Copy.

Seller Inventory # 018668

Bibliographic Details

• Title: A Yellow Raft in Blue Water: A Novel
• Publisher: New York, New York, U.S.A.: Henry Holt & Co
• Publication Date: 1987
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0805000453
• ISBN 13: 9780805000450
• Binding: Soft cover
• Edition: 1st Edition
• Condition: Near Fine
• Signed: Inscribed by Author(s)
• Seller catalogs:
  • ARCs/Proofs

About this title

Synopsis

Follows three generations of Indian women beset by hardships and torn by angry secrets, yet inextricably bound together by the indissoluble bonds of kinship

Reviews

YA The emotional terrain of lives led without the steady presence of fathers or husbands is common ground for the three generations of American Indian women who successively tell their stories in this absorbing novel. Rayona, 15, half black and half Indian, is abandoned by her mother and in turn abandons her Aunt Ida. She disappears from their Montana reservation one summer and gains independence through a job at Bear Paw Lake State Park and a surprising foray into rodeo stardom. Her mother faces what appears to be the last days of her often wild life in the kind company of a misunderstood man who was both a childhood friend and enemy on the reservation. Linked to both is Aunt Ida, the stony family matriarch who lost her favored son to the Viet Nam War and now warms her heart before the electronic fires of television soap operas. The bitter rifts and inevitable bonds between generations are highlighted as the story unravels and spills out a long-kept family secret. Rayona wishes that if she could stare long enough at a yellow wooden raft in the blue waters of the lake, her troubles would be resolved. Readers, too, will wish for the best in the lives of these wonderfully unique characters. Keddy Outlaw, Harris County Public Library, Houston
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.

A powerful novel of three generations of American Indian women, each seeking her own identity while forever cognizant of family responsibilities, loyalty, and love. Rayona, half-Indian half-black daughter of Christine, reacts to feelings of rejection and abandonment by running away, not knowing that her mother had acted in a similar fashion some 15 years before. But family ties draw Rayona hometo the Montana reservationas they drew Christine, and as they had drawn Ida many years earlier. As the three recount their lives, often repeating incidents but adding new perspectives, a total picture emerges. The result is a beautifully passionate first novel reminiscent of Louise Erdrich's Love Medicine and The Beet Queen , but a strong work which should be read and enjoyed for its own merits. Highly recommended. Thomas L. Kilpatrick, Southern Illinois Univ. Lib., Carbondale
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.