Black Elk in Paris: A Novel - Hardcover

Horsley, Kate

3.4

105 ratings by Goodreads

9781590303290: Black Elk in Paris: A Novel

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1590303296 ISBN 13: 9781590303290

Publisher: Trumpeter, 2006

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It's 1888, and Paris is drunk on its own beauty and scientific and artistic accomplishment. The city is poised to host the Universal Exposition, a testimony to French power and colonization, and to unveil its extraordinary centerpiece, the Eiffel Tower. Philippe Normand is a modest, likable physician who, in his profession, is privy to the foibles and addictions of the rich, the desperation of the poor, and the egotism of his colleagues. He is a regular guest at the dinner table of the Balise family, whose health he has cared for over many years. He is especially close to Madou, the strong-willed youngest daughter in the family, who is fed up with the arrogance of French culture and the constraints it puts on women. Philippe himself is lonely, burnt out on his profession, and disillusioned with conventional medical science. While attending a Wild West show that is touring Europe, Madou is strangely drawn to the Native American Black Elk. "Choice" —as he is known in the show—is seen as an oddity by French society; he is a mysterious figure, poised and uncannily intuitive, but desperately homesick. Philippe and Madou try to help him, but it is Choice who ends up transforming the lives of all those around him.

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About the Author:

Kate Horsley lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and teaches creative writing at Central New Mexico Community College. A poet as well as a novelist, Horsley has a PhD in American Studies and has published five novels. Her book A Killing in a New Town was the winner of the 1996 Western States Book Award for Fiction.

From Publishers Weekly:

The City of Lights sparkles in this historical novel circa 1889 as Paris prepares for the Universal Exposition, designed to demonstrate its superiority in military prowess, science, culture and the arts. Philippe Normand, a young physician who mistrusts the chauvinistic euphoria that has overtaken his fellow citizens, narrates the story. His like-minded companion, Madou, youngest daughter of the bourgeois Balise family, also rejects the latest craze and refuses to be restricted by society. Her family tolerates her eccentricities, but balks when she grows infatuated with Choice, the Lakota medicine man also known as Black Elk, who has traveled to Europe with Buffalo Bill. This mostly silent man with long braided hair, ramrod posture and a physique of carved marble embodies wisdom and serenity to Madou. To the rest of the family, and indeed to most of gossipy cafe society, he is a savage. Even devoted Philippe is apprehensive about Madou's infatuation with the man. As the city gears up for its grand celebration, Balise p�re threatens to commit Madou to Salp�tri�re Hospital. Horsley (Confessions of a Pagan Nun) admirably recreates a city in thrall to excess, but the principal characters, especially those who resist the irrational exuberance of the times, get lost in the crowd. (Mar.)
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