The Night Birds by Thomas Maltman

The author managed to throw in Indian uprisings, settler craziness, Missouri slave troubles, the Jesse James gang, mental illness, the effects of war, and all other sorts of things into a 366 page novel. It works, although it isn't an easy read. This adult novel switches between two time periods--the 1870s and the 1850s-1860s. Basically, it's a two-generation novel, but the older generation never told the younger generation anything. Asa, the young boy in the 1870s, gets to hear the tales of his family from his crazy old aunt who comes to live with them. But she isn't really crazy, he finds out. She has epilepsy and has lived for years in an asylum. Aunt Hazel begins telling Asa her story. And what a story it is. German folklore, Midwest plains folklore, and Dakota Sioux legends make the storytelling in this novel fascinating. I learned so much about all these cultures in this book. The dangerous inter-culture mingling caused many troubles, as well as the fact that Senger family members liked to be different. Different isn't always good in the 1800s. Old wives' tales, Native American spiritualism and Christianity don't always mix. But this is one heck of a coming-of-age tale about Asa, his father, and the rest of his family.

Two complaints:
1) It took forever to read and I'm not sure why. I liked the story, the characters, and loved the time period. Yet it wasn't gripping enough to make me read until 2 am. Sleep was always more important than finishing the novel, and that isn't a good thing for me.
2) I couldn't keep track of the characters, even with the years clearly labeled at the beginning of the time changes. Since both time periods were back in the "Indian" times, I couldn't even use contextual clues to help me figure it out. I didn't create one, but I felt like I needed a character list. And, don't yell at me. I have a horrible short-term memory and character names do NOT stay in my brain. I refer to characters as "that boy" and "that girl" unless I sneak a peek at the cover flap for clues.