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Perma Red
On the reservation, danger looms everywhere, rising out of fear and anger, deprivation and poverty. Fiery-haired Louise White Elk dreams of both belonging and escape, and of discovering love and freedom on her own terms. But she is a beautiful temptation for three men-each more dangerous than the next-who will do anything to possess her...
320 pages, Paperback
First published June 10, 2002
161 people are currently reading
7425 people want to read
About the author
Debra Magpie Earling
5 books146 followersDebra Cecille Magpie Earling is a Native American novelist (Bitterroot Salish tribe), and short story writer. She is the author of Perma Red and The Lost Journals of Sacajewea, which was on display at the Missoula Museum of Art in late 2011. Her work has also appeared in Ploughshares and the Northeast Indian Quarterly.
She is a graduate of the University of Washington, and holds both an MA in English and an MFA in Fiction Writing from Cornell University.
Earling is currently a faculty member in the English Department at the University of Montana at Missoula.
Awards
2007 Guggenheim Fellow
2003 American Book Award
2006 NEA grant
She is a graduate of the University of Washington, and holds both an MA in English and an MFA in Fiction Writing from Cornell University.
Earling is currently a faculty member in the English Department at the University of Montana at Missoula.
Awards
2007 Guggenheim Fellow
2003 American Book Award
2006 NEA grant
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 237 reviews
April 2, 2024
Originally published in 2002 Perma Red has recently been reissued. Its bold new cover, featuring praise from Louise Erdrich, caught my attention. The opening pages were intriguing enough but the more I read, the more puzzled I became by the story’s unfolding events. While I enjoy novels that challenge conventions, Perma Red left me bewildered by its mishandling of its central character, Louise, who is stripped of both a personality and agency.
Set predominantly on the Flathead Indian Reservation in the 1940s, the novel orbits around Louise, a Native girl who, following her mother's death, is raised by her grandmother. Time and again Louise has run from the Ursuline schools, only to be taken away from her home and placed into another one. She’s seen as trouble, especially by Charlie Kicking Woman, a tribal officer who is fixated on Louise. Baptiste Yellow Knife, his younger cousin, is also determined to pursue Louise, employing tactics that frequently verge on violence, whether through physical force or preternatural means.
But before I talk about what went wrong (for me) with Perma Red, here are a couple of things that I liked about it. It’s very much a vibe-driven novel, and it succeeds in establishing the harsh realities of Louise’s life. The novel’s stark atmosphere reminded me of Daniel Woodrell’s Winter’s Bone, Una Mannion’s A Crooked Tree, and A Prayer for Travelers by Ruchika Tomar (all of which center around girls living in rural or otherwise remote areas, with absent/dead parents, and have dealings with dubious men). In theory, I also appreciated the ambiguity permeating the narrative and that the characters, their motives and desires, remain somewhat inaccessible. I liked the imagery, which contributed to the novel’s evocative atmosphere and I did appreciate that the author, through Louise's experiences, sheds light on the violence faced by Indigenous women.
However, my enthusiasm waned as Louise's narrative veered away from her development. Instead, it fixates on the men around her, neglecting her agency and reducing her to a vessel for their desires. Must a story exploring how women are objectified, objectify its central female character? Louise's potential for growth is stymied by the overwhelming presence and focus on the story’s male characters and of ‘what’ Louise is to each of them ( the white men appear to fetishize her, Charlie resents and desires her and Baptiste..i don’t know what the fuck is going on with that dude. He wants to ‘mark’ her as his…?). There are a couple of scenes where Louise is alone, that hold possibility, especially those scenes taking place outdoors. But these are cut short, her thoughts circling back to bloody Baptiste or the other losers.
Louise’s grandmother and sister are given barely any time on the page (they have one or two lines of dialogue…) which is a pity as this novel was in dire need of some female solidarity or at least time dedicated to exploring relationships that do not hinge on the male gaze (that is underlined by the men's weird & obsessive thoughts and actions towards Louise).
I could not for the life of me understand what was going on with the characters. I’m all for keeping things enigmatic, but here the characters are made almost entirely inaccessible, which isn’t great when said characters exhibit only trashy behaviors. Sure, I appreciated that the author doesn’t resort to lazy good/bad dichotomies, especially with the character of Charlie Kicking Woman, but the narrative fails to really consider just how creepy and predatory he is. Baptiste…I really thought that the narrative had established as an obstacle, a threat even, to Louise’s happiness and self-fulfilment…but turns out they are in love...? I did not get the memo. He is appalling, he is shown to be horrendous to Louise, the kind of 'love interest' I’d expect to encounter in Colleen Hoover's fiction. The narrative fails to explore just how damaged or damaging he is, making it so that he ends up being a very thinly rendered character, one who, by the end of the novel, we are meant to feel something for, but this payoff feels unearned. Louise is ping-ponged between men who are different levels of shitty, all of whom, except Baptiste, are way too old for her.
And why are they fascinated by her? I can’t say. The narrative seems to reduce Louise to what these men view her as, that is an object whose only value lies in her body, in her appearance. Charlie Kicking Woman was giving me some serious Humbert Humbert vibes, and I was exhausted by just how much time he was given.
The novel's conclusion attempts to grant Louise agency but falls short, redeeming unsavoury male characters without addressing the harm they've caused. Charlie’s predatory nature goes unexamined, while Baptiste's abusive behavior is unjustly romanticized. Louise's supposed love for Baptiste feels forced and undermines the narrative's earlier tension and intention. I’m meant to be happy that Louise is once more reunited with the man who has taken pleasure in tormenting and neglecting her? Sure, early on, that frisson of danger could have felt like desire, love even, to a young Louise, but later on it just made no sense. Rather than making Baptiste into a fleshed-out character, the narrative and Louise condone him just through the possibility that he has come to harm.
Their love story didn’t need to be cutie-patootie or easy (i'm all for the exploration of toxic dynamics), but here I swear for the whole novel I thought of Batpsite as a one-note abusive asshole who stood in the way of Louise’s freedom…but it turns out that no, she loves him and he too loves her…(?).
Maybe the characters are so inaccessible as to make them rather far-fetched. There were several instances where a character would randomly come up with a realization about someone or themselves that to me made no sense and felt very out of nowhere (like sure, whatever floats).
I also was disappointed by the novel not exploring Louise’s grief or her family dynamics…it just made her character hollow.
Perma Red offers glimpses of promise with its evocative atmosphere and exploration of Indigenous experiences, but its disjointed narrative, vague characterization, and its preference for the male voices ultimately diminish the impact of Louise's story.
If Perma Red is on your radar, I recommend giving it a shot, despite my mostly negative review. Perhaps you'll be able to make sense of the characters and storyline in a way that I wasn't able to. Every reader's experience with a book is unique, and you might find aspects to appreciate that I overlooked.
Set predominantly on the Flathead Indian Reservation in the 1940s, the novel orbits around Louise, a Native girl who, following her mother's death, is raised by her grandmother. Time and again Louise has run from the Ursuline schools, only to be taken away from her home and placed into another one. She’s seen as trouble, especially by Charlie Kicking Woman, a tribal officer who is fixated on Louise. Baptiste Yellow Knife, his younger cousin, is also determined to pursue Louise, employing tactics that frequently verge on violence, whether through physical force or preternatural means.
But before I talk about what went wrong (for me) with Perma Red, here are a couple of things that I liked about it. It’s very much a vibe-driven novel, and it succeeds in establishing the harsh realities of Louise’s life. The novel’s stark atmosphere reminded me of Daniel Woodrell’s Winter’s Bone, Una Mannion’s A Crooked Tree, and A Prayer for Travelers by Ruchika Tomar (all of which center around girls living in rural or otherwise remote areas, with absent/dead parents, and have dealings with dubious men). In theory, I also appreciated the ambiguity permeating the narrative and that the characters, their motives and desires, remain somewhat inaccessible. I liked the imagery, which contributed to the novel’s evocative atmosphere and I did appreciate that the author, through Louise's experiences, sheds light on the violence faced by Indigenous women.
However, my enthusiasm waned as Louise's narrative veered away from her development. Instead, it fixates on the men around her, neglecting her agency and reducing her to a vessel for their desires. Must a story exploring how women are objectified, objectify its central female character? Louise's potential for growth is stymied by the overwhelming presence and focus on the story’s male characters and of ‘what’ Louise is to each of them ( the white men appear to fetishize her, Charlie resents and desires her and Baptiste..i don’t know what the fuck is going on with that dude. He wants to ‘mark’ her as his…?). There are a couple of scenes where Louise is alone, that hold possibility, especially those scenes taking place outdoors. But these are cut short, her thoughts circling back to bloody Baptiste or the other losers.
Louise’s grandmother and sister are given barely any time on the page (they have one or two lines of dialogue…) which is a pity as this novel was in dire need of some female solidarity or at least time dedicated to exploring relationships that do not hinge on the male gaze (that is underlined by the men's weird & obsessive thoughts and actions towards Louise).
I could not for the life of me understand what was going on with the characters. I’m all for keeping things enigmatic, but here the characters are made almost entirely inaccessible, which isn’t great when said characters exhibit only trashy behaviors. Sure, I appreciated that the author doesn’t resort to lazy good/bad dichotomies, especially with the character of Charlie Kicking Woman, but the narrative fails to really consider just how creepy and predatory he is. Baptiste…I really thought that the narrative had established as an obstacle, a threat even, to Louise’s happiness and self-fulfilment…but turns out they are in love...? I did not get the memo. He is appalling, he is shown to be horrendous to Louise, the kind of 'love interest' I’d expect to encounter in Colleen Hoover's fiction. The narrative fails to explore just how damaged or damaging he is, making it so that he ends up being a very thinly rendered character, one who, by the end of the novel, we are meant to feel something for, but this payoff feels unearned. Louise is ping-ponged between men who are different levels of shitty, all of whom, except Baptiste, are way too old for her.
And why are they fascinated by her? I can’t say. The narrative seems to reduce Louise to what these men view her as, that is an object whose only value lies in her body, in her appearance. Charlie Kicking Woman was giving me some serious Humbert Humbert vibes, and I was exhausted by just how much time he was given.
The novel's conclusion attempts to grant Louise agency but falls short, redeeming unsavoury male characters without addressing the harm they've caused. Charlie’s predatory nature goes unexamined, while Baptiste's abusive behavior is unjustly romanticized. Louise's supposed love for Baptiste feels forced and undermines the narrative's earlier tension and intention. I’m meant to be happy that Louise is once more reunited with the man who has taken pleasure in tormenting and neglecting her? Sure, early on, that frisson of danger could have felt like desire, love even, to a young Louise, but later on it just made no sense. Rather than making Baptiste into a fleshed-out character, the narrative and Louise condone him just through the possibility that he has come to harm.
Their love story didn’t need to be cutie-patootie or easy (i'm all for the exploration of toxic dynamics), but here I swear for the whole novel I thought of Batpsite as a one-note abusive asshole who stood in the way of Louise’s freedom…but it turns out that no, she loves him and he too loves her…(?).
Maybe the characters are so inaccessible as to make them rather far-fetched. There were several instances where a character would randomly come up with a realization about someone or themselves that to me made no sense and felt very out of nowhere (like sure, whatever floats).
I also was disappointed by the novel not exploring Louise’s grief or her family dynamics…it just made her character hollow.
Perma Red offers glimpses of promise with its evocative atmosphere and exploration of Indigenous experiences, but its disjointed narrative, vague characterization, and its preference for the male voices ultimately diminish the impact of Louise's story.
If Perma Red is on your radar, I recommend giving it a shot, despite my mostly negative review. Perhaps you'll be able to make sense of the characters and storyline in a way that I wasn't able to. Every reader's experience with a book is unique, and you might find aspects to appreciate that I overlooked.
December 31, 2007
I bought this book at a writing conference near Portland where Debra Magpie Earling was one of the keynote speakers. Her writing is unbelievably strong, feminine, vivid, heartbreaking. So on a break, I drove over to Powells and promptly bought it. I even worked up the courage to have her sign it. I would recommend it to anyone interested in the stories of native or marginalized peoples--told by the people themselves.
March 11, 2018
This is not a beautiful, uplifting story. This book is sorrow. It's one of the best things I've ever read.
Magpie Earling's writing is somehow lush and spare at the same time. She evokes moments and scenes so well, it felt like coming out of a dream when I put the book down.
Magpie Earling's writing is somehow lush and spare at the same time. She evokes moments and scenes so well, it felt like coming out of a dream when I put the book down.
February 5, 2024
This book is probably one of the best books I have read in a while. It’s the February choice for the Indigenous Reading Circle book group, and a great choice. The story takes place in 194Os Montana on a reservation near Perma. The main character Louise is a mixed race redhead hence the title Perma Red. She grows up with her sister Florence after their passes away, and Louise is kicked from one boarding school to another with the only stability being grandmother. Louise runs from her life as it the only coping mechanism she has. Her biggest problem is the effect she has on men as she seems to stun them. She has four different men obsessed with her including Baptiste the son of the local conjurer. He proclaims from an early age that he will marry Louise and pursues her until she gives in. Baptiste is a fascinating character as he has strong spiritual and sexual energy as seems to appear out of thin air at times. Baptiste is very dark skinned, and a mean drunk so everyone warns Louise to stay away from him. He is described as the kind of Native American that even scares the other Native Americans. Louise marries Baptiste but after two weeks he beats her badly and leaves her. The other three White men are adult ass men and some of them even married but they pursue Louise with a destructive, mindless fervor. These men wonder if Louise’s loyalty to Baptiste is based on his ironclad identity. All Louise wants is some stability and not go to bed cold and hungry, but she keeps getting into more and more dangerous situations.
July 28, 2024
Perma Red was a wholly intimate reading experience, outwardly clouded and hazy, inwardly haunting and dangerous. It reframes what coming of age can look like when there is inhumanity waiting at every corner, evoking a fight or flight trauma response.
This is a tale of survival, following Louise White Elk, living on the Flathead Reservation in Montana. A life mapped by markers of male pursuit, a twin flame, a native cop, a rich white man, a cowboy, Perma Red follows Louise and her life teetering over the edge to adulthood. Readers are met with Louise’s fight against the hand she was dealt, the fight against the hostile world in which she has only the weaponry assigned at birth - rage, beauty, tenacity and ache to survive another day.
Debra Magpie Earling’s ability to write themes of persecution: of women, of the land, of Indigenous peoples was more than eloquent. My reading experience was dreamlike and the absolute exactness in her prose sent me to my knees. I am confident I will never read something like this again.
“There is always something unexpected just over the shoulder of one easy curve, a drop-off that can shatter your bones. A mist passing over the hood of your car can make you believe your childhood ghosts. I’ve seen too much out here and every year that passes my own fears crawl farther up my neck.”
“He sang to her and she felt the shade of her blood. He pulled off his ring and pretended to swallow it.” … “Don’t break your teeth on it.”
“She could smell his lungs, sweet from sips of Coca-Cola, and she tried to imagine him naked.”
This is a tale of survival, following Louise White Elk, living on the Flathead Reservation in Montana. A life mapped by markers of male pursuit, a twin flame, a native cop, a rich white man, a cowboy, Perma Red follows Louise and her life teetering over the edge to adulthood. Readers are met with Louise’s fight against the hand she was dealt, the fight against the hostile world in which she has only the weaponry assigned at birth - rage, beauty, tenacity and ache to survive another day.
Debra Magpie Earling’s ability to write themes of persecution: of women, of the land, of Indigenous peoples was more than eloquent. My reading experience was dreamlike and the absolute exactness in her prose sent me to my knees. I am confident I will never read something like this again.
“There is always something unexpected just over the shoulder of one easy curve, a drop-off that can shatter your bones. A mist passing over the hood of your car can make you believe your childhood ghosts. I’ve seen too much out here and every year that passes my own fears crawl farther up my neck.”
“He sang to her and she felt the shade of her blood. He pulled off his ring and pretended to swallow it.” … “Don’t break your teeth on it.”
“She could smell his lungs, sweet from sips of Coca-Cola, and she tried to imagine him naked.”
March 3, 2024
This book has so much death, grief, abuse, stalking, grooming, forced assimilation, and just general sadness. The writing is beautiful and poetic. I hated the MMC disgusting perspectives. I wanted to jump through the book to give Louise love and acceptance for being herself, I want to tell her although she has lost so much, healthy love is still available for her.
October 7, 2022
This was a rough read. The writing was beautiful and the story was heartbreaking. It follows a young Native American woman, Louise White Elk, on a reservation in Montana as she’s basically just trying to survive in a world where everything is stacked against her. A big part of the story is her relationships with all the men who try and “court” her, and lets just say I’m definitely adding this to my “men are trash” book list. The book occasionally switches to the perspective of one of these men, Charlie Kicking Woman, and it’s crazy how different their perspectives of the relationship are.
I will admit I sometimes found it hard to follow the story or the context, and honestly I’m not even sure what time period it is. However, I still thoroughly enjoyed this novel. Earned an easy 4 stars from me.
I will admit I sometimes found it hard to follow the story or the context, and honestly I’m not even sure what time period it is. However, I still thoroughly enjoyed this novel. Earned an easy 4 stars from me.
June 26, 2023
Lolita on the rez?
March 6, 2021
The writing of this book was like no other I have ever read. It was beautiful even when there were brutal events occurring in the book. It painted a portrait of people in a place at a time that was so strong, you could almost feel it.
December 17, 2024
(#Gifted via Milkweed Editions)
We read Perma Red by Debra Magpie Earling in February for @IndigenousReadingCircle and I'm so glad I finally made time for it! The book was originally published in 2002, and 20 years later, Milkweed Editions re-published it with a beautiful new cover. The story itself felt like a timeless classic, whose subject matter is still important and gives us much to discuss.
The main character, Louise, was a magnetic person drawing people to her. We don’t get to know as much as we’d like to about her, as we view her through the eyes of men who view her as an object to be claimed. Louise experiences violence and people around her trying to have control over her. I didn’t always agree with Louise’s choices, but I respected it as someone striving to have agency in her own story. The book juxtaposes western religion and Native spiritual belief, warped by bad intentions. There was just so many layers to the story, that it made for a great discussion with our book club.
I wholeheartedly recommend this book, and I am eager to read her most recent title ‘The Lost Journals of Sacajewea’.
We read Perma Red by Debra Magpie Earling in February for @IndigenousReadingCircle and I'm so glad I finally made time for it! The book was originally published in 2002, and 20 years later, Milkweed Editions re-published it with a beautiful new cover. The story itself felt like a timeless classic, whose subject matter is still important and gives us much to discuss.
The main character, Louise, was a magnetic person drawing people to her. We don’t get to know as much as we’d like to about her, as we view her through the eyes of men who view her as an object to be claimed. Louise experiences violence and people around her trying to have control over her. I didn’t always agree with Louise’s choices, but I respected it as someone striving to have agency in her own story. The book juxtaposes western religion and Native spiritual belief, warped by bad intentions. There was just so many layers to the story, that it made for a great discussion with our book club.
I wholeheartedly recommend this book, and I am eager to read her most recent title ‘The Lost Journals of Sacajewea’.
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March 1, 2024historical indigenous romantic yet intense happenings :O say less
March 10, 2024
Sasha LaPointe put this on her Instagram and I thought there isn't a higher recommendation, but then Louise Erdrich wrote the blurb on the cover.
March 18, 2025
Beautiful. Tragic. If you live on the Flathead Indian Reservation, this is a MUST read.
August 25, 2023
I'm a little embarrassed it took me nearly 10 years to read my professor's novel because Debra Magpie Earling really is an incredible storyteller and is herself filled with charisma and lightning. To explain my hesitation, this book is not an easy one. It tells a tragic story that starts in the violent boarding school era. As Louise White Elk grows up on a Montana reservation, she has to become a woman who is forever vigilant and self-preserving around men. Throughout this novel, three particular men circle her, track her, help her, all the while hungry with desire for her. Their actions are driven more by lust or obsession than love. These characters are all extremely enigmatic, and Earling's writing is sensual and raw, sometimes creepy, but also effortlessly beautiful. I was captivated and read the first quarter of the book in just a couple days. Some may find scenes hard to read, but I had an okay time with them. I think this is because many of the characters had some kind of inner intensity or fierceness about them that gave me hope that they would emerge from their suffering. Also, I did not feel like scenes went so far as to be exploitative, and while I don't consider myself sensitive to violence, I do consider myself a reader that's sensitive to exploitation. The writing wowed me and made me sad I didn't pick up the book much sooner. I'm definitely going to read her second book The Lost Journals of Sacajawea this year or early next.
November 18, 2020
A friend had to loan me her copy of this wonderful novel because I could not find a copy. That's a shame. There are literary novels and there are plot driven novels. Those that are both are rare. Earling's novel exists in that rare air.
Perma Red is the heart-breaking but hope-filled story of an unusual and independent and confused young girl, Louise, on a reservation in the 1940s. The conflict between Louise and herself, her native heritage, and the broken men who love her is wrenching and real. It is personal and specific yet universal.
Earling's character development is rich. Each character came alive. I thought about them long after closing the pages. And her descriptions were visual and symbolic.
I will read it again to plumb deeper into this literary delight.
Perma Red is the heart-breaking but hope-filled story of an unusual and independent and confused young girl, Louise, on a reservation in the 1940s. The conflict between Louise and herself, her native heritage, and the broken men who love her is wrenching and real. It is personal and specific yet universal.
Earling's character development is rich. Each character came alive. I thought about them long after closing the pages. And her descriptions were visual and symbolic.
I will read it again to plumb deeper into this literary delight.
December 27, 2022
In places this book is achingly beautiful. Earling's prose is vivid and passionate. Yet, it strains too hard to be sensual, the characters overly enigmatic, and the novel ends up directionless and repetitive.
November 27, 2024
3.5 ⭐️
Not my typical genre but I loved it. It was slow at times but I felt the complexity of the characters and story was done well. It was hard to read at points but I think it is important and significant to the message. ❤️
Not my typical genre but I loved it. It was slow at times but I felt the complexity of the characters and story was done well. It was hard to read at points but I think it is important and significant to the message. ❤️
April 3, 2024
Perma Red, Debra Magpie Earling
It will take you a long time to get Louise, the shinning star of this novel, to leave your heart and mind once you’ve read this astonishing book.
The Atlantic declared this to be one of the greatest American novels in the last century. It’s a deeply moving and formidable look into life on an Indian reservation in the 1940s.
Set in Montana, we are introduced to a diverse and troubled cast of characters including an Indian police officer struggling to fit in on both sides, and Louise White Elk, a beautiful, tough, and free spirited young woman not willing to put up with the schools and other traumatic impositions the state demands of Indian children. Then there is Baptist Yellow Knife, a strong and powerful young Indian man who has pursued and loved Louise since grade school. He competes for Louise’s attention with his cousin Charlie Kicking Woman, the young police officer, who can’t seem to get Louise out of his mind, and Harvey Stoner, a rich land owning white man also obsessed with possessing Louise.
Young Louise is irresistible to most men. Her mere being is troubling and seems to cause problems for her and for others. Perma is not an easy place for the Indian population on any level. There is poverty, drunkenness, a desire to keep to the old ways and an opposition to them as well. The whites that surround the community use and abuse the indigenous population. As does the government.
But Louise has love in her life. Her grandmother is her guiding star and her younger sister is her grounding foundation. And Louise loves summer and her exquisite surroundings at that time of year.
But life is a constant struggle, especially after she and Baptiste collide. So much pain, sadness, loss, anguish, loneliness and unhappiness.
So poignant, so expansive and revelatory about a dying culture and a destroyed people. A love story. A family saga. An American tragedy and what may come after.
It will take you a long time to get Louise, the shinning star of this novel, to leave your heart and mind once you’ve read this astonishing book.
The Atlantic declared this to be one of the greatest American novels in the last century. It’s a deeply moving and formidable look into life on an Indian reservation in the 1940s.
Set in Montana, we are introduced to a diverse and troubled cast of characters including an Indian police officer struggling to fit in on both sides, and Louise White Elk, a beautiful, tough, and free spirited young woman not willing to put up with the schools and other traumatic impositions the state demands of Indian children. Then there is Baptist Yellow Knife, a strong and powerful young Indian man who has pursued and loved Louise since grade school. He competes for Louise’s attention with his cousin Charlie Kicking Woman, the young police officer, who can’t seem to get Louise out of his mind, and Harvey Stoner, a rich land owning white man also obsessed with possessing Louise.
Young Louise is irresistible to most men. Her mere being is troubling and seems to cause problems for her and for others. Perma is not an easy place for the Indian population on any level. There is poverty, drunkenness, a desire to keep to the old ways and an opposition to them as well. The whites that surround the community use and abuse the indigenous population. As does the government.
But Louise has love in her life. Her grandmother is her guiding star and her younger sister is her grounding foundation. And Louise loves summer and her exquisite surroundings at that time of year.
But life is a constant struggle, especially after she and Baptiste collide. So much pain, sadness, loss, anguish, loneliness and unhappiness.
So poignant, so expansive and revelatory about a dying culture and a destroyed people. A love story. A family saga. An American tragedy and what may come after.
September 26, 2022
So many things were checked out at DPL in the ebook category that I kind of randomly came across Perma Red. It sounded good and, in the end, it was. Really it's a story of a troubled young Native American woman, Louise, trapped between the white man's world of discrimination, oppression, and the evil of the nuns at the Indian Boarding School and the world of her people. She is pursued by three men (two Native Americans and one white man), but in many ways Louise is of such dominant feminine power that she cannot be contained by any man or woman. I didn't like all of the choices Louise made, but her character had such power that it was almost unsettling. This was a dark story and included many tough to read scenes. Overall, it was kind of a downer and I kind of take issue with the ending. All in all though, Perma Red was very original and enjoyable.
August 4, 2025
Raw and direct look at life in Perma on the reservation. I liked that Charlie had a first person perspective, I think he was the main character, or at least the narrator, even though it focuses on Louise’s life and Baptiste. I was pretty surprised at the happy (maybe) ending and had expected it to be harsher. The whole book was a little sadder than I generally like to read but gripping.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 19, 2020
I really wanted to like this book. I enjoyed the characters that she built but, the story just never really built for me. I just never really got invested in the characters and their relationships with each other.
June 12, 2022
I really wanted to love this book as I'm familiar with many of the places mentioned (although not Perma, sadly). I struggled to believe the major relationships in this book and even the weather. The switch between summer and winter did not make sense at times. More in a future video!
October 6, 2022
Exceptional
Both the prose and the plot captured my attention. I feel like I know Louise now and I'm sad to leave the world Earling Debra Magpie created.
Both the prose and the plot captured my attention. I feel like I know Louise now and I'm sad to leave the world Earling Debra Magpie created.
July 13, 2024
Devastating.
September 7, 2024
Very evocative writing with vivid descriptions of this community's surroundings, beliefs, social structures and marginalisation. Parts were hard to follow though and the characters felt a bit flat.
September 10, 2024
Beautiful and heartbreaking while woven into the myths and traditions of the Native American people. Although, it’s a work of fiction, I’ve heard that it’s based on the author’s aunt’s tragic life.
April 15, 2025
Very different and almost difficult to read because even though it is a work of fiction it is very true. Sad but true to this day
November 6, 2024
There is no equal. Hauntingly powerful.
February 3, 2023
Absolutely a treat of a read on so many levels. A book that kept me deeply involved , forcing me to go slowly by the amazingly picturesque language, into an Indian story exposing stunning emotions and pictures of their culture. Rich scenes of unbelievable events exploded inside my head throughout. Just brilliant! Oh, and extremely gut wrenching and nail biting right to the last. Full of surprises. Whew!
September 13, 2023
Louise White Elk is a force of nature. This book is gritty - the characters fighting for life. For air. For identity against the world . Very powerful
Displaying 1 - 30 of 237 reviews