The following version of this book was used to create the guide: Erdrich, Louise. The Painted Drum. HarperCollins, 2005.

Faye Travers lives and works as an appraiser with her mother, Elsie, in a small New Hampshire town called Stiles and Stokes. For the past several months, she has been in a relationship with an accomplished sculptor named Kurt Krahe. Krahe has a daughter named Kendra.

One of the locals, a young man named Davan Eyke, begins to live on Krahe's property as an apprentice after he is kicked out of his family home. After some time, Krahe and Davan's relationship sours, and Davan initiates a romantic relationship with Kendra. Eventually, Davan steals a car, and Kendra joins him; in the ensuing chase with the police, Davan hits and kills a man named John Jewett Tatro before crashing the car into a river, leading to both his and Kendra's deaths.

As Krahe grieves the loss of his daughter, Faye becomes responsible for appraising John Jewett Tatro's estate. During this process, she comes across a painted drum amid a trove of stolen Native artifacts and is so moved by it that she brings it home with her. Krahe becomes increasingly clingy, behavior that does not sit well with Faye; the tipping point comes when Krahe proposes to prune the ruined orchard in Faye and Elsie's yard, something Faye is vehemently opposed to. The revived orchard causes Faye to recall a traumatic event from her childhood in which her sister, Netta, jumped from one of the trees in the orchard to her death in response to abuse from their father.

After some initial reluctance, Faye and Elsie bring the stolen drum to the Ojibwe tribe where it belongs. There, they are treated to a story of the drum's history by a man named Bernard, who is the grandson of the drum's maker. Bernard explains that there was once a woman named Anaquot who had three children by a man named Shaawano. Anaquot had an affair with a man across the lake named Simon Jack, and as a result, she left Shaawano in the night, taking her daughter and her infant child with her to go be with Simon Jack. Anaquot's wagon was surrounded by wolves, and through some event (either willing or forced sacrifice), her daughter was pushed from the wagon and fed to the wolves so that Anaquot and her infant could escape.

When Anaquot arrived at Simon Jack's home, she was instead met by his wife, Ziigwan'aage. Ziigwan'aage initially intended to kill Anaquot and her daughter, but Anaquot was able to convince her that their trauma was shared. They became united in their disdain for Simon Jack, the man they felt had mistreated both of them, and began sewing him clothes.

Meanwhile, Shaawano plunged into sorrow, and was absent from his son's life for many years. That son internalized Shaawano's trauma, too, and mistreated his own children—the eldest of whom was Bernard—for many years. Eventually, though, Shaawano was compelled by the spirit of his lost daughter to make a sacred drum from some trees which had been set aside for this purpose. After searching for the trees at length, Shaawano found them and crafted the drum, placing his daughter's bones inside.

For many years, the drum was used in healing rituals among the Ojibwe, until, during one of these drum circles, Simon Jack appeared. Shaawano lost control over the rhythms he had written for the drum and Simon Jack danced himself to death. The clothing made for him by Anaquot and Ziigwan'aage turned out to be stitched into his skin. Following this disaster, the drum was set aside; eventually, Bernard's father was hoodwinked into selling it to Jewett Parker Tatro, an ancestor of John Jewett Tatro.

In the present day, on the Ojibwe reservation, a woman named Ira attempts to pick up a man named John in a bar. She has left her children—Shawnee, Alice, and Apitchi—at home so that she can prostitute herself to earn money for food and heat. John is resistant to Ira's overtures, but he agrees to help her buy food and tells her that his brother, Morris, can drive her back to her home afterward.

Meanwhile, at the house, Ira's children are starved and cold. In an attempt to heat them, Shawnee ill-advisedly starts a fire with wood in an uncontrolled setting. The house burns down. Without anyone there to help them, Shawnee drags her siblings through the woods for over three miles until she arrives at Bernard's house. At this point, the drum—which has been remitted to Bernard's care after its return—speaks to her.

After buying food with John, Ira is taken home by Morris. When they arrive at the house, they discover its charred husk, and Morris goes blind while looking for the children because of the glare off the snow. He is still able to bring himself and Ira to Bernard's house, however, where the children are being taken to the hospital by EMTs.

Ira spends several days in the hospital alternating between anger and guilt about the burning of her house. Eventually, she is able to forgive both herself and her daughters, and to thank Morris for his kindness. Bernard explains that Shawnee heard the drum, and that he believes it should be used to help heal Apitchi, who is severely ill from his time in the cold.

In Stiles and Stokes, Faye and Elsie receive thanks from Bernard, who has used the drum to heal the child. Faye resolves her differences with Krahe, whose grief is vanquished when his sculptures are destroyed by Davan's mother. She is also able, after many years, to forgive Elsie, who admits that she was absent on the day of Netta's death because she was having an affair. Faye visits her sister's grave and believes she sees Netta embodied as a raven.