Acclaim for Thrown Away

A deeply thoughtful book that sticks in the mind long after the last page.

Against the backdrop of the 19th-century Indian Wars, two good men wrestle with profound questions of identity and conscience in Kachuba’s novel.

The two men at the heart of Kachuba’s novel are Father Gianni Gagliardo and Plenty Horses of the Brulé band of the Lakota. Father Gianni, an orphan, was so impressed by the Catholic priest in New York who took him that he followed that path himself. Plenty Horses is one of those Indian boys who was uprooted and sent to the Indian School in Carlisle, Pa., notorious for “kill[ing] the Indian to spare the man.” This always makes him suspect when he returns to his people. Gianni was also captivated by dime novels of the West, so serving in Lakota territory is a dream assignment, although he quickly learns how challenging and depressing it is. The Lakota are starving on a reservation that they are forbidden to leave. En route to Pine Ridge, Father Gianni commits the worst sin a priest could commit (no, it has nothing to do with sex) and it’s a transgression that haunts him day and night. A man-child of sorts, Plenty Horses is witness and then participant in the most horrendous of battles—Greasy Grass and Wounded Knee. Finally he snaps, seemingly without provocation. Father Gianni is persuaded to be a character witness at Plenty Horses’ trial, and his testimony becomes important, though it is in many ways a Pyrrhic victory. Kachuba, a widely published writer, tells us that he worked on this book for many years: and indeed it’s a masterful performance. Father Gianni, even before the horrendous act that haunts him, has profound doubts about his vocation. Was it really from God or was that choice “draped over him like a comforting blanket that he simply didn’t kick…off?” Father Gianni finally finds peace, even if it is a peace that has him challenging the Church’s theology. Plenty Horses finds no such peace, a sad ending that is ineluctable given the fact that he was caught between two worlds. To call the ending bittersweet is to do it scant justice.

-- Kirkus - Starred Review