RaveTIME... innovative ... a powerful, carefully observed family drama ... Ford, a citizen of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, offers a novel in short stories, allowing her to move with ease through perspectives, history and time. Each heartbreaking chapter slowly adds to the reader’s understanding of these women and their increasingly difficult lives. It’s the content of those lives that sets Ford’s novel apart ... Readers who are looking for a literary version of an Edward S. Curtis painting will be disappointed; Crooked Hallelujah isn’t an opportunity for non-Cherokee readers to get an inside look at Cherokee culture. Which is entirely the point.
Tommy Orange
RaveThe Globe and MailTommy Orange’s debut novel, There There, should probably be on reading lists for every creative writing program in this country. It is a master class in style, form and narrative voice. Orange, who is from the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma, utilizes first, second and third-person narration to incredible effect, creating a multi-voiced novel that effectively reflects an entire community ... And unlike some male authors who think of their female characters as mere conduits for male desires or projections, Orange’s are rich and complex ... Whenever Orange sets his sights on colonialism and racism, his criticism is sharp and unrelenting.
