Book cover for The Crown of Columbus by Louise Erdrich and Michael Dorris
1999 Released
400 Pages
6-9 Hours
★ 3.32 1,604 ratings
Ebook Unavailable
Audiobook Unavailable
Hardback Unavailable
Harper PerennialISBN 9780060931650

"A thriller and love story. . . . A mediation on power and betrayal. . . . An exhilarating novel of risk, redemption and discovery." -- Los Angeles Times

In their only fully collaborative literary work, Michael Dorris and Louise Erdrich have written a gripping novel of history, suspense, recovery, and new beginnings. The Crown of Columbus chronicles the adventures of a pair of mismatched lovers--Vivian Twostar, a divorced, pregnant anthropologist, and Roger Williams, a consummate academic, epic poet, and bewildered father of Vivian's baby--and their quest for the truth about Christopher Columbus and themselves.

When Vivian uncovers what is presumed to be the diary of Christopher Columbus, she and Roger are drawn into a journey from icy New Hampshire to the idyllic Caribbean in search of "the greatest treasure of Europe." Lured by the wild promise of redeeming the past, they are plunged into a harrowing race against time and death that threatens--and finally changes--their lives.

Louise Erdrich

Louise Erdrich, a member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa, is the award-winning author of many novels as well as volumes of poetry and children’s books. Her novel The Round House won the National Book Award for Fiction. Love Medicine and LaRose received the National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction and The Night Watchman won the 2021 Pulitzer Prize in Fiction. Erdrich lives in Minnesota with her daughters and is the owner of Birchbark Books, a small independent bookstore.

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