An Endangered Species

An Endangered Species by Frances Washburn brings to mind Tolstoy’s famous adage that “All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” The novel focuses on two families living in the rural South Dakota plains in the 1960s: the Johnsons are a white family struggling with new financial difficulties, a dysfunctional marriage, and a delinquent son; the Warders are a Lakota family dealing with perpetual poverty and the innumerable slights they face as non-white people in a region predominantly ruled by white ranchers and businessmen. The two families find their destinies intertwined as Bart Johnson leases a section of Tom Warder’s land and Tom Warder becomes responsible for observing the behaviors of the nearby wildlife refuge’s new population of highly endangered trumpeter swans.

Washburn eschews recognizable character archetypes and narrative threads and opts for a fastidious, richly detailed realism that brings to life the setting and day-to-day contours of her characters’ lives. While some readers will find the level of historical and character detail pedantic, others will appreciate the way Washburn creates a fiction novel that feels true to life. The characters are complex and morally gray, their circumstances are dictated by fate and social structures rather than narrative necessity, and there is no obvious message or thesis to be gleaned from the book’s events. Instead, Washburn’s ardent realism illustrates how the confluence of fate, social structures, historical legacies, individual agency, and natural forces dictate the ‘plots’ of our lives.

Unfortunately, Washburn undercuts her almost anthropological level of historical accuracy with awkward and unrealistic dialogue. In situations where people would normally respond to each other with a quick gesture or phrase, her characters speak in stilted and lengthy sentences. The dialogue can occasionally come across as unnaturally didactic, which seems at odds with a novel that otherwise avoids moralizing.

An Endangered Species will not be for everyone. Even readers used to slow-paced, slice-of-life books might find themselves put off by the author’s adherence to naturalism over discernable thematic purpose. Washburn refuses to reward or punish her characters based on their moral actions; as a result, the ending feels abrupt and narratively unsatisfying. That said, An Endangered Species represents a triumph in historical realism that depicts 1960s rural plains life in mesmerizing detail.

TL;DR: Washburn eschews recognizable character archetypes and narrative threads and instead opts for a fastidious, richly detailed realism that brings to life the setting and day-to-day contours of her characters’ lives. Some readers will find the level of historical and character detail pedantic and struggle with the slow-paced, slice-of-life storyline.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bison Books for providing me with an advanced reader copy of An Endangered Species in exchange for an honest review.

An Endangered Species follows the family of Tom Warder and Bart Johnson in the 1960s, alternating between the two each chapter. Even though both characters or their families don't interact much until the end of the novel, they still play a significant role to one another. For most of the novel we are experiencing the life at a refugee for endangered swans ran by the Fish & Wildlife department while alternating between Bart's struggles with family, and income.

I believe the novel only takes place over the span of a fall to winter season. Throughout this season we get to learn a lot about each family and their struggles, how similar they are, and yet so different. The novel may be short, but the author has made sure each of the characters were well developed. As for the family aspect, I do believe there were lessons to be learned from Bart's side of the story. There were moments where I truly disliked Bart, but there's also some small sympathy for him and his struggles as well. Alternating to Tom's family, in my opinion, his story was a bit more slice of life at a refugee and how a family gets by when things aren't necessarily affordable.

Overall, I really enjoyed this novel and I would definitely recommend it to any of my environmental science/biology friends who want a fiction story related to our majors. Frances Washburn did a great job on researching the history of the time period, Native American culture, the science behind endangered species and the care scientists put in to their practices.

Also please check trigger warnings. This novel contains: sexual assault (in minor detail), poaching, and farming practices that aren't enjoyable to witness.

A sincere thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I really enjoyed the following of this family, it had everything that I was expecting from this type of book. It continued the story in a way that was perfect and enjoyed with the people in this. I enjoyed following this story and the characters felt like real people. Frances Washburn writes a great story and it left me wanting more.

Thank you to Netgalley and University of Nebraska Press for an e-arc in exchange for an honest review!

An Endangered Species follows two families, one white and one Native, living in rural South Dakota in the 1960s. These families don't have much interaction with one another, but as the perspective alternated between the two from chapter to chapter I was struck by the similarity in their struggles. Another reviewer noted that this piece takes its foundation from the opening of Anna Karenina--"Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way"--and I couldn't help but think how true that is. In this novel the Lakota family guards the highly endangered trumpeter swans, while one of the white family members becomes obsessed with hunting the creatures down. The allegory of hunter and hunted as it relates to indigenous people groups is astute and heart-wrenching.

This is a true slice-of-life book. For me, the unrelenting realism took away from the overall experience of reading this book by making it feel slow. The joy of historical fiction for me is that it contains a touch of the fantastical. That being said, fans of very realistic historical fiction will love the commitment to realism in this book.

Overall, I enjoyed this book. I'd recommend it to people who want a slow-paced read with rich prose.