SOURCE: Womack, Craig S. Review of Medicine River, by Thomas King. American Indian Culture and Research Journal 16, no. 2 (spring 1992): 226-30.

In the following review, Womack discusses Will's disconnection from his roots and the landscape of his childhood in Medicine River.

When Will loses his job in Toronto [in Medicine River], he returns to live in Medicine River, a prairie town off the Blackfoot Reserve in Canada, but his sense of place is uncertain; he feels he has no real connection to Medicine River as home. A local busybody and gossip by the name of Harlen Bigbear tells him of the potential for opening a photography studio in the community. Will is distant from Medicine River as a place: “Autumn was the best season [in Medicine River]. It wasn't good, just better than the other three” (p. 1). He also is incapable of making human connections. As narrator, Will rarely...