What We Thought: Wild Indigo by Sandi Ault

Book group members met Tuesday afternoon, March 11, to discuss a life very different from traditional New England history and customs. Assorted snacks were readily available to set the mood. Corn bread, chili and jalapeno flavored crackers served with black bean salsa were on the table along with "mesa cake" --a ricotta and corn-flavored dessert. There was a dish of button mushrooms for those who were fully engaged in the elements of the story!

The group generally agreed that the book was an interesting read and commented positively during an intense discussion about practicing and preserving Native American languages and culture in modern times. Some readers said that there were too many characters and that the story had a lot of things happening. There was almost too much to keep track of, but others were satisfied with the story line.

Wild Indigo made nine bestseller lists and earned critical acclaim for author Sandi Ault. The high desert of New Mexico is the setting for the book and is vividly described. The characters were believable and the interactions between the people who live on and off the reservation held the interest of readers, including those who don’t ordinarily read southwestern fiction.

Although the story takes place in the present, there is plenty of history about Native American rituals and Pueblo life as well the interaction of Mexican and Spanish and Native American and European societies. So detailed were the ceremonies it was questioned whether details were accurate or whether they had been altered to protect the secrecy of the rituals. Members wondered if the mystical events of the novel were meant to be real or if they could -- as in a Scooby Doo episode -- be explained away by other means. Others thought that because the author thoroughly researches her books, is passionate about life in the southwestern United States, and even lives in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado with her family and a wolf and a wild cat, that she writes truthfully even if her stories are fictional.

The discussion continued with comments about other elements in the story, such as how Mountain -- a wolf rescued by the main character, Jamaica Wild -- represents a bridge between "cultures" that both have strong family (clan) connections. Bone Man was recognized as the trickster, a character in many traditional Native American stories. At the conclusion of the discussion, a surprise gift was awarded to one of the book club members. It was a paint-by-numbers picture of a wolf, admired by all!

This quote by the author sums up how she feels about her work and how it can affect her readers:

At the end of the Hopi harvest dances, the villagers throw loaves of bread to the onlookers who have come to observe. And the Hopi don’t care if the bread lands in the arms of a thief or a saint, it is just important for them to throw the bread and give the gift of life back to the world that has nurtured and sustained them.

And when the reviewers were throwing their gifts, I was just lucky enough right then to be standing where the bread landed. Those good reviews came to me while many, many other writers do as well or better work and receive no recognition whatsoever. So it was more out of goodness on the other end than anything I did.

The important thing was that I showed up for life long enough to get that story written, which is like showing up for the dances. And I would encourage your writer/readers to do the same. Show up. Write. And enjoy the dance.

Have you read Wild Indigo? What did you think? Please share your thoughts in the comments!