Reading order · 11 books · 1984 to 2016 · Set in the fictional Argus, North Dakota
North Dakota Novels in Order
Louise Erdrich’s North Dakota novels follow several Ojibwe families on a reservation and in the nearby town of Argus across the twentieth century. Each novel stands alone, but characters, places and family histories echo between them.
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Series facts
- Books
- 11
- Published
- 1984 to 2016
- First book
- Love Medicine
- Latest
- LaRose (2016)
- Setting
- Set in the fictional Argus, North Dakota
The reading order
Every North Dakota novels book in publication order. Choose a title for its cast and summary.
11 books · Set in the fictional Argus, North Dakota
- 1Love Medicine1984When June Kashpaw dies walking home through the snow, her family gathers on the reservation in North Dakota.Buy on Amazon
- 2The Beet Queen1986In 1932, two children, Mary and Karl Adare, are abandoned by their mother and arrive in Argus, North Dakota, where Mary stays with her aunt and Karl drifts away.Buy on Amazon
- 3Tracks1988With Nanapush and Fleur PillagerBetween 1912 and 1924, the old storyteller Nanapush and a young woman, Pauline Puyat, tell the story of Fleur Pillager, a powerful, feared woman, as the Ojibwe lose their land.Buy on Amazon
- 4The Bingo Palace1994With Lipsha MorrisseyLipsha Morrissey returns to the reservation and falls for Shawnee Ray Toose, while his uncle Lyman Lamartine plans a bingo palace on sacred land.Buy on Amazon
- 5Tales of Burning Love1996Jack Mauser’s four wives find themselves stranded together in a car in a blizzard after his apparent death, and pass the night telling their stories.Buy on Amazon
- 6The Last Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse2001With Father Damien ModesteFor decades, Father Damien Modeste has served the Ojibwe of Little No Horse, and no one knows that he is really Agnes DeWitt, a former nun.Buy on Amazon
- 7The Master Butchers Singing Club2003Fidelis Waldvogel, a German soldier back from the First World War, settles in Argus, North Dakota, and opens a butcher’s shop, and his life becomes entwined with a woman named Delphine.Buy on Amazon
- 8Four Souls2004With Nanapush and Fleur PillagerFleur Pillager travels to Minneapolis to take revenge on the lumber baron who stole her land, and takes a job in his house.Buy on Amazon
- 9The Plague of Doves2008In 1911, a farm family is murdered near the town of Pluto, North Dakota, and Ojibwe men are wrongly hanged for the crime.Buy on Amazon
- 10The Round House2012With Joe CouttsIn 1988, Joe Coutts, a thirteen-year-old on an Ojibwe reservation in North Dakota, sets out to find the man who attacked his mother, when the law can do nothing because of where it happened.Buy on Amazon
- 11LaRose2016Landreaux Iron accidentally shoots and kills his neighbour’s five-year-old son while hunting, and following an old custom, he and his wife give their own son, LaRose, to the grieving family.Buy on Amazon
Do you need to read them in order?
The novels can be read in any order. Tracks covers the earliest years; Love Medicine is the most common starting point.
Who appears in which book
The series’ main characters, book by book. Lead means the book is told around them; minor covers cameos.
| Book | Nanapush | Fleur Pillager | Father Damien Modeste | Lipsha Morrissey | Joe Coutts | Lulu Lamartine | Marie Kashpaw | Pauline Puyat |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 Love Medicine | ·Minor | MMajor | MMajor | MMajor | ·Minor | |||
| 2 The Beet Queen | ||||||||
| 3 Tracks | LLead | LLead | ·Minor | ·Minor | ·Minor | MMajor | ||
| 4 The Bingo Palace | ·Minor | MMajor | LLead | MMajor | ·Minor | |||
| 5 Tales of Burning Love | ·Minor | |||||||
| 6 The Last Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse | MMajor | ·Minor | LLead | ·Minor | MMajor | |||
| 7 The Master Butchers Singing Club | ||||||||
| 8 Four Souls | LLead | LLead | ·Minor | |||||
| 9 The Plague of Doves | ·Minor | ·Minor | ||||||
| 10 The Round House | LLead | |||||||
| 11 LaRose | ·Minor |
Characters in the North Dakota novels books
11 characters from Louise Erdrich’s chart, with the number of North Dakota novels books each appears in.
| Character | Books | First in this series |
|---|---|---|
| NanapushOjibwe elder, trickster and storyteller | 4 | Tracks 1988 |
| Fleur PillagerPowerful, feared Ojibwe woman | 4 | Tracks 1988 |
| Father Damien ModestePriest who is secretly Agnes DeWitt | 4 | Love Medicine 1984 |
| Lipsha MorrisseyJune's son, who has the touch | 3 | Love Medicine 1984 |
| Joe CouttsThirteen-year-old investigating an attack on his mother | 3 | The Plague of Doves 2008 |
| Lulu LamartineFleur's daughter, mother of many sons | 4 | Love Medicine 1984 |
| Marie KashpawMatriarch of the Kashpaw family | 4 | Love Medicine 1984 |
| Pauline PuyatMixed-blood girl who becomes Sister Leopolda | 3 | Love Medicine 1984 |
| Nector KashpawTribal chairman torn between Marie and Lulu | 3 | Love Medicine 1984 |
| June MorrisseyWoman whose death opens Love Medicine | 3 | Love Medicine 1984 |
| Gerry NanapushLulu's son, an escaped prisoner | 3 | Love Medicine 1984 |