The tragic tale of a Montana family ripped apart by scandal and murder: “a significant and elegant addition to the fiction of the American West” (Washington Post).
In the summer of 1948, twelve-year-old David Hayden witnessed and experienced a series of cataclysmic events that would forever change the way he saw his family. The Haydens had been pillars of their small Montana town: David’s father was the town sheriff; his uncle Frank was a war hero and respected doctor. But the family’s solid foundation was suddenly shattered by a bombshell revelation.
The Hayden’s Sioux housekeeper, Marie Little Soldier, tells them that Frank has been sexually assaulting his female Indian patients for years—and that she herself was his latest victim. As the tragic fallout unravels around David, he learns that truth is not what one believes it to be, that power is abused, and that sometimes one has to choose between loyalty and justice.
Born in Rugby, North Dakota, and raised in Bismarck, Larry Watson received his B.A. and M.A. in English from the University of North Dakota and his Ph.D. in creative writing from the University of Utah. Watson is the author of the novel In a Dark Time and a chapbook of poetry, Leaving Dakota. He teaches English at the University of Wisconsin at Stevens Point and lives in Plover, Wisconsin.
What People are Saying About This
Louise Erdich
A beautiful novel about the meaning of place and evolution of courage....A wonderful book.
Reading Group Guide
The suggested questions are intended to help your reading group find new and interesting angles and topics for discussion in your reading of Larry Watson's Montana 1948. We hope the following information will enrich your discussion of the book.
Reading Group Discussion Points
What motivates Frank Hayden's final act? (The author has characterized it as both a selfish and a selfless act.)
Late in the novel, Gail Hayden changes her attitude. She no longer wants her husband to continue the course of action that earlier she encouraged him to follow. What causes her to change?
What does Wesley Hayden mean by his admonishment not to "blame Montana"?
A great deal of attention is paid to locating Bentrock (a fictional community) on the map. Why? What role does the setting play in the novel?
Whose story is this? Wesley's? David's? Why?
Who is the moral center of the story? Why?
How does prejudice play into the story?
Why is Wesley Hayden especially concerned when his son David tells him that Len McAuley might "know something"?
What would the outcome of the story have been had David's father publicly arrested his uncle? Would things have turned out better? Worse? Would you have done the same thing as Wesley had it been your family?
Was there any justice for the crimes committed by Uncle Frank?
Most of the novel's action takes place in 1948. Why did the author choose that year? Could the events occur today?
In what ways is the novel about privilege and the abuse of power?
What is the effect of David Hayden telling this story so many years after the fact?
