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The Sentence cover art

The Sentence

By: Louise Erdrich
Narrated by: Louise Erdrich
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Summary

Shortlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction 2022

Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Night Watchman 

In this stunning and timely novel, Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award-winning author Louise Erdrich creates a wickedly funny ghost story, a tale of passion, of a complex marriage and of a woman's relentless errors.

Louise Erdrich's latest novel, The Sentence, asks what we owe to the living, the dead, to the reader and to the book. A small independent bookstore in Minneapolis is haunted from November 2019 to November 2020 by the store's most annoying customer. Flora dies on All Souls' Day, but she simply won't leave the store. Tookie, who has landed a job selling books after years of incarceration that she survived by reading 'with murderous attention', must solve the mystery of this haunting while at the same time trying to understand all that occurs in Minneapolis during a year of grief, astonishment, isolation and furious reckoning.

The Sentence begins on All Souls' Day 2019 and ends on All Souls' Day 2020. Its mystery and proliferating ghost stories during this one year propel a narrative as rich, emotional and profound as anything Louise Erdrich has written.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2021 Louise Erdrich (P)2021 Hachette Audio UK

Critic reviews

Louise Erdrich is the rarest kind of writer, as compassionate as she is sharp-sighted (Anne Tyler)
[A] powerful, endearing novel (Erica Wagner)

What listeners say about The Sentence

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Ghostly truths

Fantastic narration of this very rich and deeply moving book by the author. Covers so much from covid to books. Recommend to all bibliophiles but prepare to be challenged

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5 people found this helpful

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Beautiful!

When it's done well, author narration can really help bring the story to life, knowing the characters from the inside as only an author really can. This is something Erdrich definitely achieves.

I was worried that the plot might be too harrowing, but Erdrich walks a delicate line between describing the challenges her characters face, without being an angel of doom.

Her style is beautifully lyrical with shots of well-observed humour that had me laughing. I didn't want it to end.

I recommend this book to anyone and everyone!

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4 people found this helpful

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Wonderful

This was a deeply moving account centred around a year in the life of a woman and her book stop. It’s also about a haunting and search for identity
Plenty of layers and beautifully written

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2 people found this helpful

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A Beautifully written and satisfying ghost story.

As a pandemic novel it is a sobbing read. It also looks at the murder of George Floyd's murder. I also learned a lot about Native American culture in the 21st century and cuturel appropriation as it applies to the Native American community.

My favourite character in this book was the bookstore the novel Centres around based on a real life bookstore owned by the author.

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2 people found this helpful

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    4 out of 5 stars
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The Sentance was an interesting book

I didn’t know what to expect. This mwas highly recommended by a good friend and I must confess that I was a bit confused in the beginning. It all began to make sense, however. The characters were well developed and I took a keen interest in all of them. The main premise of the story really made me think and was extremely informative as well. It was well read by the author. I felt it flagged a bit at the end. I do think it’s worth a listen and would recommend it.

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2 people found this helpful

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    3 out of 5 stars
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I wanted to love this…

This author is wonderful and the book has all the elements I love but sadly it didn’t come together for me. It started strong and ended perfectly but I struggled in the middle with the overall storyline. It felt like a stream of consciousness, rather than an intricate storyline and plot. The characters were so alive and real and kept me listening. Maybe this type of book needs to be read to be truly appreciated.

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1 person found this helpful

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Social issues,racism,white issues

Too complex...hard to follow sometimes.Unclear who was real and who was a ghost.Well written though.

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  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Torturous narrative voice

Story started well but then just went on a weird tangent about protests/pandemic/politics. It should have been one or the other. A ghost story or a social commentary. But mainly the narration was just awful. For a woman who actually wrote the dialogue, why was it read in such a bizarre stilted way?! She should not read audiobooks. Ever.

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  • Overall
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Loved this book

Moments of deep insights permeated this novel. Connecting the characters with real recent events was powerful . Lyrical and dreamy but profound.

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  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
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Mind numbing

I am working very hard to finish this audiobook. It’s droll, lots of lists and the imaginative promise at the start has turned to porridge. (Ridiculous number of references to food and it looks like that’s infectious)! So, I am at the cross roads one arrives at when something isn’t for them. Do I finish it because I paid for it or abandon it and go and find something I enjoy. Sorry, I’ve never written a book so I expect the author researched hard but the effect is slower than watching paint dry.

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