My mother’s family is German, immigrating to Australia well before World War 1, and I sing in a community choir, so I was looking forward to reading this book. It tells the story of Fidelis Waldvogel as he makes a new life in America after World War 1, and also of the enigmatic Delphine Watzka, a North Dakota local. I found the story quite melancholy, but well crafted. There wasn’t enough singing!

The title of the book is a bit confusing. There was a master butcher and he did have a singing club but for me it didn't seem to play a main part in the story. I thought the story revolved around a compassionate female character, Delphine, and all the horrible things that happened to her over the course of her life. I kept hoping for some deeper understanding of other characters or for happiness for any of them (especially Delphine) but it ended up being page after page of betrayals, sadness, sickness and death. Too grim for me. ( )

Ok. Some parts better than others ( )

Louise Erdrich is best known for novels that explore her Native American heritage and are set in the Dakotas. In The Master Butchers Singing Club, Erdrich reaches back into her European ancestry with a sprawling saga featuring German and Polish immigrants. Central to the story is Delphine, a young woman who returns to her hometown after a stint performing in a vaudeville act. Delphine befriends Eva, the wife of the town’s German butcher, and she assists Eva in running the shop, and her life becomes increasingly entwined with Eva’s family … and to avoid spoilers, I’ll stop there.

Delphine’s story unfolds over a period of about 20 years. A large number of characters come and go, and family secrets are ever present in the background. Erdrich is an amazing storyteller, able to juggle a complex web of subplots and make it all work out in the end. That said, the last third of the novel was told in less detail, with larger gaps of time between chapters. Some characters were abruptly written out of the story, with insufficient detail and emotion. The last chapter is perhaps the most beautiful part of the novel, almost as if Erdrich wrote this first and then created a novel to showcase it. The journey was worth it. ( )

En el hogar donde Louise Erdrich pasó su infancia había una fotografía de su abuelo alemán, repeinado y luciendo un resplandeciente delantal. «Se la hicieron cuando tenía unos diecisiete años. Era maestro carnicero y luchó en la primera Guerra Mundial, en las trincheras. Fue condecorado por el ejército alemán con la Cruz de Hierro. Y entonces, hastiado de la guerra y de tanta matanza, abandonó Alemania en 1920 para ir a América. Esta novela cuenta la historia de Fidelis Waldwogel, personaje inspirado en el abuelo, que, al acabar la guerra, abandona su tranquilo pueblo alemán para poner rumbo a América con su esposa Eva y una maleta llena de las famosas salchichas ahumadas de su padre y de sus valiosos cuchillos de carnicero. Fidelis acabará instalándose en Dakota del Norte, donde trabajará muy duro para sacar adelante un negocio, un hogar y un coro con las mejores voces del pueblo. Pero las aventuras de Fidelis en el Nuevo Mundo comenzarán de verdad cuando conozca a la asombrosa Delphine Watzka...