The Seed Keeper

The Seed Keeper is a melancholy story that spans several generations and chronicles the sacrifices made by a Dakota family in order to preserve their way of life.

Growing up in the woods, Rosalie Iron Wing was told stories by her father, Ray, a former science teacher, about flora, constellations, and the Dakota people's beginnings. Up until the morning Ray disappears after inspecting his traps. Rosalie, who is told she has no relatives, is placed under the care of a foster family in the neighboring city of Mankato. It is there that the quiet, bookish adolescent befriends the outspoken Gaby Makespeace, forming a bond that goes beyond their troubled family histories.

Many years later, Rosalie visits her childhood home on a wintry day. She is a mother and widow who has lived on her white husband's farm for the past 20 years. She finds comfort in her garden despite the land being threatened by a predatory chemical firm and then by drought. Now that she is grieving, Rosalie is facing the past and looking for her family, her identity, and a place where she can finally call home. During the process, she discovers what it means to be descended from women who have "souls of iron"—people who have endured decades of loss and sorrow, war, and the pernicious trauma of boarding schools in order to defend their families, customs, and a priceless stash of seeds.

The Seed Keeper, a masterfully narrated tale about reawakening and recalling our primordial tie to the seeds and, through them, to our ancestors, weaves together the voices of four unforgettable women.