Gardens in the Dunes

A Novel

by Leslie Marmon Silko

Scribner, 477 pp., $14 (paper)

Gardens in the Dunes traces the journey of Indigo, a young member of the Sand Lizard tribe who spends her childhood in her tribe’s ancestral gardens in the mountains in Arizona until she is separated from her sister and sent off to a school to learn to be white. She escapes, only to be taken in by Edward and Hattie Palmer, who take her with them on their travels across the country and to Europe to visit gardens and gather plants. Indigo saves all of the seeds and roots that she can gather during the trip, planning for her eventual return to her native home. Silko is at her best when she focuses on Indigo and her reactions to the strange new worlds around her. But the author reaches too far in providing the entire histories for Edward and Hattie. Still, Gardens in the Dunes is a fascinating book, especially for those with a deep and abiding love of plants and flowers.

This article appears in July 7 • 2000.

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