From Publishers Weekly
A Native American Studies professor and her lover study documents related to a long-lost diary of Christopher Columbus. This lighthearted romantic mystery by a husband-and-wife team spent eight weeks on PW 's hardcover bestseller list. Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Library Journal
After scoring substantial critical success individually (for Erdrich with the novels Love Medicine , LJ 10/1/84; The Beet Queen , LJ 8/86; etc.; and for Dorris, with A Yellow Raft in Blue Water , LJ 5/1/87, and the nonfiction The Broken Cord , LJ 7/89), this husband-and-wife team combine their talents to produce what looks to be a Big Time, commercially successful novel, pre-sold movie rights and all. Told in the very different voices of college professor lovers Vivian Twostar, Native American single mother, and Roger Williams, poet of an old New England family, the collaborative effort flows smoothly. Although estranged during Vivian's pregnancy, both are working on academic projects concerning the 500th anniversary of the discovery of North America by Columbus. The collision of their two lives is funny, vivid, and life-affirming; add an element of mystery and you have a sure-fire winner on all levels. Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 1/91.-Ann H. Fisher, Radford P.L., Va.Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.


New York Times
"Compelling entertainment...Fast-paced, fluently written...Combines the archaeological suspense of Raiders of the Ark with the scholarly thrills of A. S. Byatt's Possession."



"The rare novel that is both literature and good fun."



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



"Highly entertaining, full of intrigue, wit, search for self and a buried treasure. Suspenseful and clever."


New Woman
"Splendid...A novel to cherish and reread...An original genre, using the frame of an adventure yarn to house a love story and a novel of ideas."


Miami Herald
"Highly entertaining, full of intrigue, wit, search for self and a buried treasure. Suspenseful and clever."


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


Barbara Kingsolver
"The rare novel that is both literature and good fun."


Book Description
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--on their quest for the truth about Christopher Columbus and themselves. When Vivian uncovers what is presumed to be the most 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. A rollicking tale of adventure, The Crown of Columbus is also contemporary love story and a tender examination of parenthood and passion.


About the Author
Louise Erdrich is one of the most gifted, prolific, and challenging of contemporary Native American novelists. Born in 1954 in Little Falls, Minnesota, she grew up mostly in Wahpeton, North Dakota, where her parents taught at Bureau of Indian Affairs schools. Her fiction reflects aspects of her mixed heritage: German through her father, and French and Ojibwa through her mother. She worked at various jobs, such as hoeing sugar  beets, farm work, waitressing, short order cooking, lifeguarding, and construction work, before becoming a writer. She attended the Johns Hopkins creative writing program and received fellowships at the McDowell Colony and the Yaddo Colony. After she was named writer-in-residence at Dartmouth, she married professor Michael Dorris and raised several children, some of them adopted. She and Michael became a picture-book husband-and-wife writing team, though they wrote only one truly collaborative novel, The Crown of Columbus (1991). The Antelope Wife was published in 1998, not long after her separation from Michael and his subsequent suicide. Some reviewers believed they saw in The Antelope Wife the anguish Erdrich must have felt as her marriage crumbled, but she has stated that she is unconscious of having mirrored any real-life events.She is the author of four previous bestselling and award-winning novels, including Love Medicine; The Beet Queen; Tracks; and The Bingo Palace. She also has written two collections of poetry, Jacklight, and Baptism of Desire. Her fiction has been honored by the National Book Critics Circle (1984) and The Los Angeles Times (1985), and has been translated into fourteen languages. Several of her short stories have been selected for O. Henry awards and for inclusion in the annual Best American Short Story anthologies. The Blue Jay's Dance, a memoir of motherhood, was her first nonfiction work, and her children's book, Grandmother's Pigeon, has been published by Hyperion Press. She lives in Minnesota with her children, who help her run a small independent bookstore called The Birchbark.

ANNOTATION

Anthropologist Vivian Twostar uncovers what may be the scholarly coup of the century when she finds the legendary lost diary of Columbus. Lured by its promise of redeeming the past, Vivian, her son, and academician Roger Williams embark on a harrowing journey from icy New Hampshire to the idyllic Bahamas--an adventure that changes their lives forever.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

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—on their quest for the truth about Christopher Columbus and themselves. When Vivian uncovers what is presumed to be the most 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. A rollicking tale of adventure, The Crown of Columbus is also contemporary love story and a tender examination of parenthood and passion.

FROM THE CRITICS

Barbara Kingsolver

The rare novel that is both literature and good fun.

New York Times

Compelling entertainment. . . Fast-paced, fluently written. . . Combines the archaeological suspense of Raiders of the Ark with the scholarly thrills of A. S. Byatt's Possession.

Los Angeles Times

A thriller and love story. . . A mediation on power and betrayal. . . An exhilarating novel of risk, redemption and discovery.

Michiko Katukani

. . .a distinctly commercial novel, a fast-paced, fluently written novel that combines the archeological suspense of 'Raiders of the Lost Ark' with the scholarly thrills of A. S. Byatt's Possession. . . .The Crown of Columbus does not measure up to the earlier fiction Ms. Erdrich and Mr. Dorris have written individually, though given their persuasive storytelling gifts, it still stands as a compelling entertainment. —The New York Times

Miami Herald

Highly entertaining, full of intrigue, wit, search for self and a buried treasure. Suspenseful and clever. Read all 8 "From The Critics" >

WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING

I fell headlong in love with The Crown of Colombus. — Amy Tan