Dalva

Book Cover
Average Rating
Publisher
E.P. Dutton/Seymour Lawrence
Publication Date
[1988]
Language
English

Description

The saga of a pioneer family is chronicled by Dalva, a woman searching for the lost son she had by Duane, a half-Sioux, and whose Indian heritage becomes an important part of Dalva's narrative.

More Details

ISBN
9780671740672

Discover More

Author Notes

Loading Author Notes...

Similar Titles From NoveList

NoveList provides detailed suggestions for titles you might like if you enjoyed this book. Suggestions are based on recommendations from librarians and other contributors.
These books have the subjects "former lovers," "indigenous peoples of north america," and "indigenous families."
These books have the appeal factors moving and character-driven.
These books have the appeal factors moving, character-driven, and multiple perspectives, and they have the subjects "dakota (north american people)," "indigenous peoples of north america," and "lakota (north american people)"; and characters that are "complex characters."
These books have the appeal factors hopeful and multiple perspectives, and they have the subjects "birthmothers," "adoptees," and "adoption."
These books have the appeal factors moving and cinematic, and they have the subject "indigenous peoples of north america."
These books have the appeal factors moving and cinematic, and they have the subject "indigenous peoples of north america."
These books have the subjects "indigenous peoples of north america" and "cherokee (north american people)."
These books have the appeal factors moving, and they have the subjects "indigenous peoples of north america" and "crow (apsáalooke) (north american people)."
Let him go - Watson, Larry
These books have the appeal factors character-driven, intensifying, and multiple perspectives.
These books have the appeal factors moving and character-driven, and they have the subject "indigenous peoples of north america"; and characters that are "authentic characters."
These books have the appeal factors multiple perspectives, and they have the subject "indigenous peoples of north america"; and characters that are "well-developed characters."
These books have the appeal factors multiple perspectives, and they have the subjects "dakota (north american people)" and "indigenous peoples of north america."

Similar Authors From NoveList

NoveList provides detailed suggestions for other authors you might want to read if you enjoyed this book. Suggestions are based on recommendations from librarians and other contributors.
Rick Bass and Jim Harrison share a particular skill at writing evocative novellas set in the wilderness, anywhere from northern Michigan to the Appalachian foothills. Their feel for nature coupled with their complex characterizations distinguishes them as superior prose stylists. -- Mike Nilsson
Jim Harrison and Richard Russo write vividly atmospheric character-driven fiction set in rural American communities. Their stories are noted for their lyrical and understated prose, gentle humor, and compelling portraits of ordinary people facing tragic losses and undergoing personal transformations. -- Derek Keyser
Richly evocative landscapes and touching personal dramas are the centerpieces of the fiction of Jim Harrison and David Guterson. Written in a lush and lyrical style, their character-driven stories feature haunting introspection, vividly rendered atmosphere, and richly developed characters. -- Derek Keyser
These authors' works have the subjects "indigenous peoples of north america," "mortality," and "dakota (north american people)."
These authors' works have the appeal factors witty and evocative, and they have the genres "literary fiction" and "mainstream fiction"; and the subjects "middle-aged men," "interpersonal relations," and "social life and customs."
These authors' works have the appeal factors reflective, lyrical, and multiple perspectives, and they have the genres "literary fiction" and "mainstream fiction"; the subjects "middle-aged men," "interpersonal relations," and "grief"; and characters that are "sympathetic characters."
These authors' works have the appeal factors reflective, melancholy, and lyrical, and they have the genres "literary fiction" and "mainstream fiction"; the subjects "middle-aged men," "interpersonal relations," and "memory"; and characters that are "introspective characters."
These authors' works have the appeal factors reflective, melancholy, and leisurely paced, and they have the genres "literary fiction" and "mainstream fiction"; and the subjects "middle-aged men," "people with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis," and "mortality."
These authors' works have the appeal factors reflective, and they have the genres "short stories" and "novellas"; and the subjects "men-women relations," "mortality," and "loss."
These authors' works have the appeal factors reflective, lyrical, and multiple perspectives, and they have the genres "literary fiction" and "mainstream fiction"; the subjects "interpersonal relations" and "voyages and travels"; and characters that are "complex characters."
These authors' works have the appeal factors moving, reflective, and sardonic, and they have the subjects "middle-aged men," "voyages and travels," and "mortality."
These authors' works have the appeal factors moving, reflective, and lyrical, and they have the genres "literary fiction" and "mainstream fiction"; and the subjects "middle-aged men," "self-discovery," and "married men."

Published Reviews

Booklist Review

Harrison as a novelist continues to grow deeper and more beautiful; the distance between his latest novel and the one before it, the riveting Sundog (Booklist 80:1378 Je 1 84), is immense. The diamond-in-the-rough elegance of his style and his superb mesh of sarcastic humor and almost blushing sensitivity when it comes to creating characters have never been more beguiling than in this exquisitely carved portrait of the life and loves of 45-year-old Dalva, who is in search of the child she gave away for adoption immediately after his birth. She finds her son at novel's end, and in the process Harrison evokes with loving detail both Dalva's ancestry in the late-nineteenth-century west and the fortitude to stand by her actions and attitudes that is her familial legacy. BH. [CIP] 87-24442

From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Powered by Syndetics

Publisher's Weekly Review

A cast of fascinating characters populates the Nebraska farmland where Harrison's fine new novel is set. First among these is Dalva Northridge, a passionate and unconventional woman who, at 45, begins searching for the illegitimate son she bore 30 years earlier. While flashbacks explore Dalva's teenage romance with her son's father, a half-Sioux youth, the story is carried forward through Dalva's current relationships with her wealthy family and with Michael, a history professor. The middle portion of the book, narrated by the alcoholic and debauched Michael, brings a shift in mood. Michael, who is living at the Northridge family ranch while researching journals left by Dalva's great-grandfather, proceeds toward his own incapacitation at a Rabelaisian pitch. Woven through Michael's narrative are excerpts from the journals, which have a great relevance to the history of Nebraska's Native Americans. Harrison (Sundog) offers almost an embarrassment of riches here. Digressing stories of a large number of characterswhile they add to the rich texture of the novelsometimes deflect attention from Dalva herself. That is a small caveat, however, about this lyrical and atmospheric book, which is entertaining, moving and memorable. (March) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Powered by Syndetics

Library Journal Review

Dalva has traveled the world doing a variety of jobs, alternately haunted and driven by men: a half-breed Sioux, her half-brother, whose child she bore, and gave up for adoption, at 16; an obsessed great-grandfather, who came to Nebraska as a missionary; an alcoholic college professor who uses her as a crutch as he blunders toward tenure. The reconciliation of the various elements in her life is precipitated by a return to her Midwestern roots, where she acknowledges her family's eccentricities and her own wasted years. In the process a vivid panorama of Nebraska history is revealed through her own poignant memories and the tormented journals of her great-grandfather. A compelling novel, essential for fiction collections.Thomas L. Kilpatrick, Southern Illinois Univ. at Carbondale Lib. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Powered by Syndetics

Kirkus Book Review

Harrison (Sundog, Warlock, etc.) has only mixed success here with a female character, but otherwise taps deep and true with this portrait of a family on the Nebraska plains. Dalva Northridge, narrator of the book's first and final sections, is a moneyed superwoman--calm genius in the kitchen, sexual, beautiful and competent. She grew up free on the spacious family farm under the enlightened care of her smart, widowed mother Naomi and her part-Sioux grandfather. At 15, she made love to the half-Sioux cowboy, Duane, whom her grandfather had taken in, and got pregnant. When Duane disappeared, her grandfather let on that her love was really her own half-brother. Dalva gave up the child for adoption but nursed a sad longing for Duane (the nightmare terrain of their brief reunion is the emotional centerpiece of the novel). Decades later, Dalva's back home, this time with her sometime-lover Michael, an overweight and alcoholic historian whose abject begging has convinced her to grant him access to her missionary great-grandfather's journals. Michael, narrator of the book's middle section, has some near-uproarious adventures with the locals (a spree at the lazy Daze Tavern and a silly speech at a Rotary Club lunch). He also traces, through the Northridge patriarch's lyrical journals, this gentle man's post-Civl War wanderings through the territories--befriending Sioux warriors, blurring his Christian faith, experimenting with Indian mysticism and nearly losing his mind. Placid Dalva is an unreal (if appealing) character: she swallows her considerable pain, and even her breakdowns are gracious and shot through with connections to nature. As for Michael, he's an amusing caricature of the helpless academic and a neat foil for the vivid journals. Strong landscapes, hilariously sketched walk-on characters and antic detail give richness and humor to a novel that flirts with being a romantic paean to the prairie and the Sioux. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Powered by Syndetics

Library Journal Reviews

Dalva has traveled the world doing a variety of jobs, alternately haunted and driven by men: a half-breed Sioux, her half-brother, whose child she bore, and gave up for adoption, at 16; an obsessed great-grandfather, who came to Nebraska as a missionary; an alcoholic college professor who uses her as a crutch as he blunders toward tenure. The reconciliation of the various elements in her life is precipitated by a return to her Midwestern roots, where she acknowledges her family's eccentricities and her own wasted years. In the process a vivid panorama of Nebraska history is revealed through her own poignant memories and the tormented journals of her great-grandfather. A compelling novel, essential for fiction collections.Thomas L. Kilpatrick, Southern Illinois Univ. at Carbondale Lib. Copyright 1988 Cahners Business Information.

Copyright 1988 Cahners Business Information.
Powered by Content Cafe

Publishers Weekly Reviews

A cast of fascinating characters populates the Nebraska farmland where Harrison's fine new novel is set. First among these is Dalva Northridge, a passionate and unconventional woman who, at 45, begins searching for the illegitimate son she bore 30 years earlier. While flashbacks explore Dalva's teenage romance with her son's father, a half-Sioux youth, the story is carried forward through Dalva's current relationships with her wealthy family and with Michael, a history professor. The middle portion of the book, narrated by the alcoholic and debauched Michael, brings a shift in mood. Michael, who is living at the Northridge family ranch while researching journals left by Dalva's great-grandfather, proceeds toward his own incapacitation at a Rabelaisian pitch. Woven through Michael's narrative are excerpts from the journals, which have a great relevance to the history of Nebraska's Native Americans. Harrison (Sundog) offers almost an embarrassment of riches here. Digressing stories of a large number of characterswhile they add to the rich texture of the novelsometimes deflect attention from Dalva herself. That is a small caveat, however, about this lyrical and atmospheric book, which is entertaining, moving and memorable. (March) Copyright 1988 Cahners Business Information.

Copyright 1988 Cahners Business Information.
Powered by Content Cafe

Reviews from GoodReads

Loading GoodReads Reviews.

Staff View

Loading Staff View.