Summary

In Chapter 11, “Joe,” Cora visits Joe. They have not reconnected since Joe’s abandonment years prior. Throughout Cora’s visit, the couple discuss the past. Joe tries to explain why he never came home, even after learning about Leah. He argues that “Leah was better off without [him]” (191). He then details the decisions he made over the years and why. After taking Dad’s car, he drove and drove, spending a large swath of time out West.

Joe knows he failed his family. However, he felt too guilty for losing his sister, letting his brother die, and leaving his wife to return home (198).

Joe tells Cora and Leah about a Native woman he met in his travels. She refuted his notion that Native people had “something in [their] blood that [made them] bad,” and urged him to make amends with his past (201).

While...