Book Review: Shadow Tag by Louise Erdrich

Irene finds out that her possessive husband Gil is reading her diary. She decides to start a “true” diary and uses the “fake” diary to manipulate him. See, Irene has decided that she wants to leave Gil, but Gil insists he’ll never let her go, at least not with their three children. What follows is a family descent into some very dark places…


I’ve been hearing that I should read Erdrich for years (and in fact, have two of her other books unread on my shelves) and I was so incredibly impressed by this novel, I am wondering why I waited so long.

Erdrich gets to the emotional truth of her scenes - of the dysfunctional marriage that is also an artist/muse relationship. Neither character is particularly likeable, and all signs point to a tragic ending, but I was riveted. For me, this was one of those rare treasures, a deep literary fiction novel that is also a page turner.

I read this as part of a TLC tour.  Check out the other stops!