On Indian Time
Judi Blaze
(Reviewer - Rebecca Brown)
2003 1stBooks Library
ISBN: 1410769615

Raised by a white father & a Sioux mother two brothers must choose which world to live in.

Deadrock, Montana in the 1950s is a windy, bleak railroad town, where Martin & Billy along with their younger brothers, survive the abuse of their martinet father ... & then the old man dies & the family while knowing much peace, struggles to make ends meet.

Martin finds relief in drawing & follows his mother's Lakota roots into sculpture & design, making a name for himself & finding a woman to love, even as he must watch his brother self-destruct.

Billy has only anger: at his father, at the white society for rejecting him, of his own sense of self worth. All too soon he is spiraling down into booze, drugs & a hopeless life, relieved occasionally by his wife's company. Even she, especially with her addictions, cannot offer Billy solace.

On Indian Time could have been depressing, however, Judi Blaze has balanced the stories of the brothers, & written a lean & emotional tale, with the occasional need for editing.

I liked Judi Blaze's slim debut novel. An understated, yet emotional glimpse into the light & dark of living with anger in a world where you're not wanted ... & making a place for yourself ... or not.
(04/18/04)

Rebecca