Winter in the Blood

Winter in the Blood (1974) is the first novel by Native American author James Welch.^[1]

Winter in the Blood was published by Harper & Row. It was later issued as a paperback by Penguin Paperback.

Synopsis

Set in contemporary times, the novel features a self-destructive narrator undergoing an identity crisis. He lives in on the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation in Montana. His tribe and his culture are clashing with a nearby white settlement and the effects of poor legislation. He moves through his days in a mental haze and tries to find consolation in sexual encounters.

He suffers from family tragedies, trying to deal with memories of his father found dead in a snowdrift and blaming himself for his elder brother's fatal accident at the age of fourteen. The distant tone is set from the beginning, as the narrator's name is never given.

Setting

The novel takes place on the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation and along the Hi-Line of Montana. These are areas where Welch lived in childhood.

Film adaptation

Winter in the Blood was adapted as a screenplay, and was produced as a 2012 feature film by the brothers Alex and Andrew Smith,^[1] and the screenwriter Ken White.^[2] It was the Official Selection of the Los Angeles, Austin and American Indian film festivals in 2013.^[2]

References