Counting Coup

by Kelli Donley

Happily consumed with her academic career, Professor Avery Wainwright never planned on becoming sole guardian of her octogenarian Aunt Birdie. Forced to move Birdie—and her failing memory—into her tiny apartment, Avery’s precariously balanced life loses its footing. Unearthed in the chaos is a stack of sixty-year-old letters. Written in 1951, the letters tell of a year Avery’s grandmother, Alma Jean, spent teaching in the Indian school system, in the high desert town of Winslow, Arizona. The letters are addressed to Birdie, who was teaching at the Phoenix Indian School. The ghostly yet familiar voices in the letters tell of a dark time in her grandmother’s life, a time no one has ever spoken of. Torn between caring for the old woman who cannot remember, and her very different memories of a grandmother no longer alive to explain, Avery searches for answers. But the scandal and loss she finds, the revelations about abuses, atrocities, and cover-ups at the Indian schools, threaten far more than she’s bargained for.

Genres: Book Club, Fiction, Historical Fiction

370 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 17, 2018

Reviews

[KC · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely loved this book! From the first pages to the last o was interested in the characters’ journeys and couldn’t put it down. I didn’t want it to end and I find myself thinking about it often even though I read this a few years ago. ❤️

[Luanne Castle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Looking for an engaging contemporary novel that understands the past? Check out Kelli Donley’s page-turner, Counting Coup, which switches settings between 2010 and 1951. A young Arizona State University professor tries to care for her great-aunt who has dementia and ends up learning that the pasts of the aunt and her sister, the professor’s grandmother, hold mysteries about the lives of Native American schoolchildren of mid-century. The story is well-told in a structure that kept me in suspense. The protagonist, Avery, is righteously horrified by what she learns about Phoenix and Winslow Indian Schools, but Donley deftly complicates our understanding by adding in the viewpoint of Marco, who left Nicaragua as a child refugee years before. Donley’s careful portrayal of the lives of the sisters, the daughters of poor Irish-born farmers, makes for compelling reading.

[Brittany · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kelli has written another wonderful book that draws you right in to the characters. I really enjoyed how the story was told from two different timelines. And I loved learning more about the Indian Schools through Alma Jean and Birdy and their experiences. It's one of those books that make you want to learn more about a time period that we don't talk much about. And if you agree, I would highly encourage you to visit the Heard Museum in downtown Phoenix given the opportunity - they have a wonderful exhibit about the Indian Schools. Counting Coup gives you a glimpse into these schools from the perspective of two young girls sent to Arizona to teach - not knowing what they were getting into, and not liking what they saw.

[AC Shilton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Donley has created likable characters, a quick-moving plot, and just the right amount of place-based writing to make you feel like you're visiting Arizona as you read along. I loved how she uses the story to teach readers about the Indian Schools, something I knew vaguely about, but were brought way more into focus by Donley's clear, concise writing.

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

I learned so much about the Phoenix Indian School, and history of Native Americans in Arizona, that I am now totally fascinated and want to visit the school site and Winslow. This was a very well researched and well-written book from a very talented Arizona author.

[Rosemary · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked the parallel stories. The current story attributed more impact by the great aunt and great grandmother than their own story lines described. I can’t wait to tour the remains of the Indian School in Phoenix next week. After reading the book I’m sure I will feel the presence of Birdie!

[Edie Hartin · Rating 5 out of 5]

At times, hard to read; but harder to put down.

A story well told and one that touches the heart and soul. ..
I always wondered about the Indian School, but it was difficult to actually find out about it. Thank you for sharing its history and so much more.

[Denise Griffin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really insightful book! Since I live in AZ, it was particularly interesting for me to read. I knew the places and areas that Donley referenced in her book. I am looking forward to reading her other novels.

[Carrie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Counting Coup is a wonderful book,
respectfully and honestly telling a fictional story set in a very real dark and disturbing time in Arizona history. It’s very sad to know the Phoenix Indian School was in operation into the late 1990’s. I’m so glad my book club chose this book.

[David Paap · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great story!

Loved the book. Story was very engaging. I knew some history of the Phoenix Indian school, but this book has motivated me to learn more about this very sad history.

[Deb · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really liked the story of the two sisters. If the book were written completely in the 1950’s I would have liked it more.

[Dalene Hansen · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent story revolving around one of the worst stories of our State. A stack of old letters leads a modern day young woman into this dark part of history.