I read two of Richard Wagamese’s other works (Indian Horse and Dream Wheels) and loved them enough to decide to read his entire backlist.
In Medicine Walk, the main character, a sixteen year old boy, doesn’t have a name initially, and the reader only learns his name in Chapter Three. Franklin Starlight, the boy, is called upon to visit his father, Eldon, with whom the boy has had a minimal relationship. But duty-bound, he journeys on horseback to the man, only to learn he is dying of alcohol-induced liver failure. After neglecting his heritage for years, the father wants to be buried in the mountains as a traditional Ojibwa warrior. On a journey of discovery of each other and themselves, Franklin ties his father to a horse and walks by his side. Medicine Walk is a record of that journey through rugged mountain country which becomes a trip into their shared past as the dissolute father narrates the desolation and the one true love of his life.
This is a novel about the goodness of the human soul and has a wonderful redemptive ending. Wagamese’s prose is spare but laden with emotion, particularly nuanced here, considering this book is autobiographical fiction. His writing soars through the mountains and his insight and compassion for his characters is rich and rewarding. Franklin is raised by “the old man,” another character whose name is unknown until the end.
This is book will haunt you as it covers child abuse, neglect, PTSD, profound love, more profound grief, and self-destructive tendencies. Wagamese doesn’t dwell on the harshness of Franklin’s life but presents it as a fait accompli, neither playing down nor sensationalizing it. One must be amazed at the strength of character of the boy and the old man finding their way through life as a family of two.
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Medicine Walk (Milkweed Editions, May 12, 2015) is available through:
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You can read my reviews of Wagamese’s Indian Horse here and Dream Wheels here.
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