Diane Wilson’s novel, “The Seed Keeper” will be the subject of December’s First Thursday Book Discussion at noon on December 4 in the Columbia Public Library.
“The Seed Keeper,” spans several generations in a Dakhóta family starting with a Dakhóta girl, her mother and her new born brother fleeing violence and starvation after the 1862 Dakhóta uprising in southern Minnesota. Among their few possessions, they pack a small store of seeds and carefully cache the remaining seeds.
Descendants grow and save seeds, carrying the traditions of their family with them despite hardship and persecution.
In the most recent generation, Rosalie Iron Wing grew up in the woods with her father. He taught her how to survive and shared the stories of the plants and stars and their people. But when he dies, Rosalie is told she has no relatives and is sent to live with a white foster family in Mankato.
But Rosalie did have family and the last surviving elder has painstakingly grown and saved her family’s seeds, hoping to reunite with Rosalie.
Weaving together the voices of four generations, Diane Wilson extends the symbolism inherent in seeds into this family’s story of perseverance, reawakening, and remembering.
Join us on December 4 to share your thoughts and questions with other readers in a facilitated discussion.
