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Louise Erdrich: Shadow tag (2010, Harper)

Review of 'Shadow tag' on 'Goodreads'

What a fantastic idea, what a sloppy deliverance.

Premise: a wife of a famous Native American painter realizes that her husband reads her diary and uses it to manipulate him by writing things she wants him to read.

It's a dysfunctional marriage and she wants out of it, while he wants to keep the family together by all means. Unfortunately, the story lacks a really strong reason why she wants to break out. Both main characters are unlikable and I found it really difficult to cheer for either side. By the end, it all became a sick game with no possible solution.

The reason I gave 4 stars, beside the promising, though unfulfilled idea, is the ending. It is so surprising that it changed my, until then mostly negative, impression of the book.