The first part, Bezhig, is about the origins of the way the families meet. These are important to note because throughout the book there are two major recurring motifs: sets of disruptive and magical female twins and images of women sewing or stitching pieces of beadwork. Each of the four parts that the novel is divided into (Bezhig, Niizh, Niswi, and Niiwin) contains another short piece of the tale and the sisters’ rivalry. The novel opens with a cryptic folktale of two twins sewing the world into existence, trying to outdo each other and sew beads faster. The plot and the connections between the characters are confusing, but the book contains a family tree in the front matter that helps clarify matters. Erdrich blends time and the voices of her large cast of characters in this nonlinear narrative, showing that the mistakes of the past have a way of haunting us. The story is multi-generational, following the Roy and Shawano families as they intertwine and break apart over the years. She adds back the characters and storylines dropped from the original text and repairs some of the glaring mistakes she caught. This edition features new cover art, interviews with the author, and some entirely new content, including extra chapters. In 2012, Erdrich released an updated edition of the novel. The book won the 1999 World Fantasy Award. The Antelope Wife (1998, 2012) by Louise Erdrich is a novel of magical realism.
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