Future Home of the Living God by Louise Erdrich- Book Review

I have been slowing down a bit with my fun reading and have been focused a bit on my educational reading, so my blogging has suffered a bit in the last few months. I am never sure if individuals would be interested in reviews about non-fiction educational books, so I have erred on the side of not posting. The good news is, I am making a slight swing back into the fun reading, so we are off and running again.

For those who have never read a Lousie Erdrich book, there are a few things you should know:
1. She is one incredible Native American author and brings Native culture into her books.
2. Her books are not what you would call happy books. They are deep and often explore the darker side of light, but are so worth reading anyway.
3. She often has strong female lead characters who undergo a lot, but persist through their own strength.
4. She has written 35 books! From children's books to poetry to novels to short stories. Yet, when asked, many have not had the joy of reading her books.

Future Home of the Living God does not give you much to begin with. Cedar Hawk Songmaker is pregnant and begins a quest for her biological parents. We don't know why she is in danger, but she is on the run. Revealing her pregnancy to individuals means trouble for Cedar.

As the book progresses, we see a group of religious radicals have taken over and are imprisoning pregnant women. Street names are changed, churches have become shelters, and pregnant women are disappearing never to return. Cedar is being protected and taken care of by her boyfriend.

I will not spoil anything as part of the book's draw is being in a world where you do not know much at all. The book jacket and descriptions spoil the book pretty harshly, but I won't do that in the review. One can guess though that something will happen to Cedar.

It is difficult not to draw comparisons to Handmaid's Tale in the sense that a religious group has taken over and pregnant women are the focus and strong feminine characters are present. That is where the comparisons end, although one can feel Atwood's presence within this book. Erdrich has her own spin on this though to make it very much her book.

This book, while dystopian in nature, is more about the strength and the power of women. Cedar does not need anyone to take care of her, but allows herself to be cared for at times by others. She will do anything to protect her unborn child in this world, even at the expense of her own safety. Getting her child born is the goal and loving the child no matter what is the desire.

After the initial first act where one has to get his/her bearings, this book simply takes off. It has gotten on my list of favorite books of the year. Yes, it is bleak and yes it is difficult, but get through this one as it is such an incredible story.

I gave this one 4.5 stars.