A powerful new novel of from one of America's most important and entertaining writers.
In 1918, Fidelis walks home from the Great War to a Germany broken and defeated. He finds himself inexplicably drawn to the fiancée of his dead best friend and they marry but, knowing he cannot make his fortune in postwar Germany, Fidelis heads for America. When he leaves, 'The inside pockets of his father's suit held all he needed'. He leaves behind his family of master butchers, but not the skills he has learned from them, and in America his sausages gradually become legendary.
Moving to small-town America, he is soon joined by his wife and son, opens a deli and life seems to be perfect. But there are always the locals to contend with and when they meet Delphine and Cyprian, two eccentric travelling circus performers, things begin to get interesting.
There is the problem of the unresolved dead bodies discovered rotting in the basement of Delphine's father's house, for one thing. And then there is the rivalry between the local singing groups - will Fidelis be able to prove his superiority?
Spanning two continents, this epic look at postwar immigrants' America is Louise Erdrich at her engrossing best. Warm, human, funny, deeply sad, Erdrich's cast of oddball characters are infinitely lovable. 'The Master Butcher's Singing Club' will delight the legions of existing Erdrich fans and amaze and entrance those coming to her work for the first time.
