The Marriage of Saints (review)

The haunting nature of tragedy and the importance of human connections are the themes that bind Dawn Karima Pettigrew's The Marriage of Saints. Pettigrew does not focus on one central protagonist or offer a simple climax in this novel; rather, she weaves together a rich tapestry of poems and stories, all of which illustrate the tragic and beautiful history of a Cherokee family, the StandsStraights. Pettigrew's novel, her second following The Way We Make Sense (2002), is a testament to the enduring power of family and love.

While the stories and poems do not allow the reader to see the larger picture of the novel initially, Pettigrew leads the reader through carefully constructed titles and a linear chronology. Each story is accompanied by a revealing title, such as "The Pursuit of Darkness: Indiana RedPaint Telling" or "Mourner's Bench: Carolina StandsStraight Speaking." Pettigrew constructs each title so that the main part suggests something about the story to follow, while the subtitle reveals who is the focus of each story and what he or she is doing. This organizational format enables Pettigrew to provide touching and tragic glimpses into the actions and motivations of the main characters in the novel, while at the same time she can explore the various consequences of trauma on members of the StandsStraight family.

The Marriage of Saints traces the StandsStraight's family line beginning with Jack StandsStraight's marriage to Oklahoma RedPaint and the birth of their four daughters—Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee Jane, and Indiana—and ending with the incorporation of Georgia's daughter, Lena, back into the family fold. In particular, the novel details the events that shatter the StandsStraight family and the miracles that allow for healing to take place. The family is torn apart by two tragic events: Indiana's death and Georgia's rape. Indiana's death is accidental, but the root cause of her death can be traced to Jack StandsStraight, who gambles with his daughter's life, using her as collateral in order to pay for entry fees in a rodeo. When he finishes in second place, he cannot repay his debt, which forces Indiana to pay the price. The day before she is to pay her father's debt, she falls down a well and dies. After her death, the first tragic event, Jack starts drinking and the remaining daughters leave, except Georgia.

In "None of This Could I Have Known: Nathan Hollow Stealing," Pettigrew illustrates the origin of Georgia's trauma and the tangible ways in which trauma continues to haunt individuals and families. Nathan Hollow, a local ice deliveryman, forces Georgia into the back of his ice truck and rapes her. Georgia acts quickly to marry another man and protect herself in case she becomes pregnant, but she continues to be haunted by the cold and gives birth to her attacker's daughter. Georgia is further afflicted by the cold when her husband dies in a car accident caused by ice and snow, and she begins to wander with her infant daughter. She soon forgets her identity and her past, until her mother prays to God for her return. Georgia cannot ignore the pull home, leaves her daughter behind, and returns to her mother during a snowstorm, nearly freezing to death. Oklahoma tries to save Georgia's daughter, but the cold will not loosen its grip on Georgia until she learns about the fate of Nathan Hollow. When Georgia is told that Nathan took a razor to his throat, she is miraculously cured and the cold vanishes, along with her life.

In addition to illustrating the haunting nature of tragedy, Pettigrew's stories and poems also reveal the complexity of contemporary American Indian identity. In "Vanity and Vexation: Lena Allen Mays Trying," Lena, Georgia's abandoned daughter, reflects on the idea of being "part" Indian:

That's so stupid, the way people ask if you are part Indian, like you should...