The Recurring Cast
Character guide · 17 books · 1984 to 2021 · Mostly set in the fictional Argus, North Dakota

Louise Erdrich

Historical fictionLiterary and generalFamily sagaLiterary fiction

Louise Erdrich's novels return again and again to an Ojibwe reservation in North Dakota and the nearby town of Argus, following the Kashpaw, Lamartine, Nanapush and Pillager families across a century.

Best estimate, compiled from series guides, publisher descriptions and reviews where available, and from memory otherwise. Book level only, not chapter level. Minor includes cameos and brief references. Each book carries a confidence rating in its tooltip. Novels outside the linked North Dakota books are charted by their lead only.

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Who appears in which book

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LLeadMMajor·MinorHas a note
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Louise Erdrich books in order

Each series in publication order, with its lead characters. Where the story runs in a different order, switch to Story order. Crossover books are marked and listed under their main series. Use My books to track what you have read.

North Dakota novels

11 books · Set in the fictional Argus, North DakotaLiterary fictionFamily saga
  1. 1Love Medicine1984Buy on Amazon
  2. 2The Beet Queen1986Buy on Amazon
  3. 3Tracks1988With Nanapush and Fleur PillagerBuy on Amazon
  4. 4The Bingo Palace1994With Lipsha MorrisseyBuy on Amazon
  5. 5Tales of Burning Love1996Buy on Amazon
  6. 6The Last Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse2001With Father Damien ModesteBuy on Amazon
  7. 7The Master Butchers Singing Club2003Buy on Amazon
  8. 8Four Souls2004With Nanapush and Fleur PillagerBuy on Amazon
  9. 9The Plague of Doves2008Buy on Amazon
  10. 10The Round House2012With Joe CouttsBuy on Amazon
  11. 11LaRose2016Buy on Amazon

Other novels

6 books · Mostly set in MinneapolisLiterary fiction
  1. 1The Antelope Wife1998Buy on Amazon
  2. 2The Painted Drum2005Set in New Hampshire and North DakotaBuy on Amazon
  3. 3Shadow Tag2010With Irene AmericaBuy on Amazon
  4. 4Future Home of the Living God2017With Cedar Hawk SongmakerBuy on Amazon
  5. 5The Night Watchman2020With Thomas Wazhashk · Set in Turtle Mountain, North DakotaBuy on Amazon
  6. 6The Sentence2021With TookieBuy on Amazon

Characters

15 recurring and key characters, with the book each one first appears in.

The reservation families

Other leads