Books › The Last Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse
The Last Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse
637 pages
A sweeping, deeply reflective exploration of a lifelong secret, the nature of miracles, and the enduring spirit of a remote reservation.
What it feels like
Reading this book feels like sitting with a profound, lifelong confession. It unfolds at a steady, contemplative pace, weaving a sprawling tapestry of mystical experiences, deep sacrifices, and the heavy burden of a hidden identity. The mood is steeped in both reverence and sorrow, capturing the generational weight of pestilence and tribal hatreds, yet it is unexpectedly punctured by moments of absurd humor and deep friendship. The prose is reflective and expansive, inviting the reader to grapple with the blurred lines between true faith and the capacity for evil. It will deeply satisfy readers who crave character-driven, atmospheric stories about the complexities of devotion, the intricacies of passing, and the enduring spirit of Indigenous communities.
- Mood
- mystical
- contemplative
- sorrowful
- remote
- Tone
- reflective
- reverent
- conflicted
- wry
- Pace
- steady
- Themes
- the burden of secrets · gender and hidden identity · the nature of miracles · generational sorrow · duality of good and evil
- The writing
- Sweeping and deeply reflective, weaving mystical experiences with grounded, sometimes humorous, human histories.
- The arc
- Moves from the heavy dread of a lifelong secret being exposed to a sweeping, reflective reckoning with faith, friendship, and survival.
- Who it's for
- Readers who appreciate sweeping, character-driven narratives about complex faith, hidden identities, and the intricate histories of Indigenous communities.
Content notes
- generational trauma
- pestilence
- religious anxiety
- tribal hatreds
About the book
"For more than a half century, Father Damien Modeste has served his beloved people, the Ojibwe, on the remote reservation of Little No Horse. Compelled to his task by a direct mystical experience, Father Damien has made enormous sacrifices, and experienced the joys of commitment as well as deep suffering. Now, nearing the end of his life, Father Damien dreads the discovery of his physical identity, for he is a woman who has lived as a man.
He imagines the undoing of all that he has accomplished - sees unions unsundered, baptisms nullified, those who confessed to him once again unforgiven. To complicate his fear, his quiet life changes when a troubled colleague comes to the reservation to investigate the life of the perplexing, difficult, possibly false saint Sister Leopolda.".
"Father Damien alone knows the strange truth of Sister Leopolda's piety, but these facts are bound up in his own secret. In relating his history and that of Leopolda, whose wonder working is documented but inspired, he believes, by a capacity for evil rather than the love of good, Father Damien is forced to choose. Should he reveal all he knows and risk everything? Or should he manufacture a protective history? In spinning out the tale of his life, Father Damien in fact does both.
His story encompasses his life as a young woman, her passions, and the pestilence, tribal hatreds, and sorrows passed from generation to generation of Ojibwe. From the fantastic truth of Father Damien's origin as a woman to the hilarious account of the absurd demise of Nanapush, his best friend on the reservation, his story ranges over the span of the century.".
"In a masterwork that both deepens and enlarges the world of her previous novels set on the same reservation, Louise Erdrich captures the essence of a time and the spirit of a woman who felt compelled by her beliefs to serve her people as a priest. The Last Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse is a work of an avid heart, a writer's writer, and a storytelling genius."--BOOK JACKET.
Description from Open Library.
Books like The Last Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse
See why they match
Future Home of the Living GodLouise ErdrichA chilling, intimate diary of a woman navigating the collapse of biology and society while fiercely guarding the life growing inside her.
The round houseLouise ErdrichA gripping, deeply felt coming-of-age story wrapped in a quest for justice on an Ojibwe reservation.
Reservation bluesSherman AlexieA painful, humorous, and mythic symphony of rock and roll, cultural survival, and redemption.
The man who fell in love with the moonTom SpanbauerA raw, mythic reimagining of the American West that pulses with queer desire, brutal tragedy, and the fierce beauty of chosen family.
There ThereTommy OrangeA fiercely urgent chorus of voices hurtling toward a devastating and unforgettable convergence.
Ten Little IndiansSherman AlexieA tragicomic and deeply empathetic exploration of urban lives caught between history and the modern world.