Cloud Chamber

I just finished reading Cloud Chamber by Michael Dorris.  I have previously read two of Dorris' books; A Broken Cord and Yellow Raft in Blue Water.  Michael Dorris wrote this book in 1997.  He committed suicide the same year.   He was married to Louise Erdrich, a Minnesota author. I've read many of her books and also saw a play at the Guthrie based on her book, The Master Butchers Singing Club.  Dorris led an unusual life.  In 1971 he became the first unmarried man in this country to adopt a child.  He eventually adopted three children, all native Americans, and all with fetal alcohol syndrome.  In my work I have some experience with fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS).  FAS is a tough diagnosis.  Parental guilt is huge.  I've seen brain scans of people with and without FAS.  I was amazed how much damage alcohol can do to a developing fetus and how easy it is to see on brain scans.  Seeing the scans makes me grateful because there, but for the grace of God, go I. Alcohol damages the developing cells.  When a fetus is only 4 cells big, or 8 or 16 or 32 cells big, the damage is much worse than in the third trimester.  FAS is tough too because some people with FAS know they are not being treated like other people but can't understand why and cannot, for the life of them, learn from any mistakes they make.  Because of my work, I was fascinated by Dorris' book The Broken Cord.  And although he did a great job describing FAS and how hard it is to raise a child with FAS, I could not agree with his idea to put pregnant alcoholics in prison.  The book, Cloud Chamber does not address FAS.  This is a tale about a family that originates in Ireland and ends up on a reservation in Montana. It's a story about women who assertively express their opinion knowing they will hurt the feelings of others and the people who have to live with them.  Dorris is a talented storyteller.  He makes smooth transitions as he tells the story from the voice of different characters.  I would never guess by reading it that the author would soon kill himself.  The characters are compelling.  I found myself reaching for the book to find out what happened to them.