There There by Tommy Orange

When I read the powerful Prologue in Tommy Orange's novel There There through the First Look Book Club I knew I had to read this book. A distinct, strong voice offered an abbreviated history of Indian-European relations and our stereotyped images of Indians. It was brutal and blunt.

"We are the memories we don't remember, which live in us, which we feel, which make us sing and dance and pray the way we do, feelings from memories that flare and bloom unexpectedly in our lives like blood through a blanket from a wound made by a bullet fired by a man shooting us in the back for our hair, our heads, for a bounty, or just to get rid of us." Prologue, There There   

I was a lucky giveaway winner and began reading the book as soon as it arrived.

Orange imagined a novel for the untold stories of urban Native Americans, people who have lost their traditions yet are labeled as 'other' by society. Readers meet a community of characters seeking to understand who they are, struggling with alcoholism, broken families, poverty, and addiction. 

They are all headed to the Big Oakland Powwow, to reconnect with family or their heritage or to find an easy way out.

"We all came to the Big Oakland Powwow for different reasons. The messy, dangling threads of our lives got pulled into a braid--tied to the back of everything we'd been doing all along to get us here. We've been coming from miles. And we've been coming for years, generations, lifetimes, layered in prayer and handwoven regalia, beaded and sewn together, feathered, braided, blessed, and cursed." from Interlude, There There

There are a lot of characters--twelve--and each chapter skips from one character to another, building our understanding of a bigger picture. We know from the first character's story that everyone is heading into danger which creates tension as our investment in the characters deepens. The climax likewise is told from multiple viewpoints, and with Orange's beautiful writing, even violence becomes a dance and an awakening.

The book is already a national bestseller that has garnered acclaim. It is a sensational debut.

There There
by Tommy Orange
A. A. Knopf
$25.95 hardbound
ISBN: 978-0-525-52037-5