The Mighty Red by Louise Erdrich

This is a bit lighter hearted than a lot of this author's books, and at first I thought that made it less weighty--but then I read The Anxious Generation, and I think that this is an important reflection on where we are at nationally--well, before the take over of our democracy, that is. The story begins in 2008 within a farming community in North Dakota’s Red River Valley. The Great Recession is biting hard. Everything here that still runs, runs on sugar beets — planting them, harvesting them, trucking them, processing them. The industry has bent the whole town around the pursuit of that ubiquitous sweetener, with bitter results. The soil is depleted and instead of trying to build it up again, pesticides and genetically modified crops are the path that has been chosen. That is the background for a love triangle between Kismet, an Ojibwa teen, and two boys. Gary is the more conventional choice, although not a great one, and Hugo is less advantaged but a better person. The story is slow moving with obvious disaster written all over it, but beautifully told, and a fine addition to onve of the best American fiction writer's impressive oeuvre.