Laughing Boy

 I read another Pulitzer Prize winning novel. Laughing Boy by Oliver La Farge won the prize in 1930. This story is about the Navajo nation in 1914. Laughing Boy is a young man who has been accepted in his tribe as a man. He has talents in horse racing and making jewelry with silver and turquoise. He is at a communal dance when he meets Slender Girl. They fall in love. They go to Slender Girl's house which is near a town and are married. Slender Girl works for a preacher in the town while Laughing Boys tends his horses and makes jewelry. He builds her a loom and she begins to weave blankets. She struggles with her weaving at first but with his help her work on the loom improves. Slender Girl has issues because she was taken from her family at a young age and sent to a Christian boarding school. She was forced to give up the native ways. In a series of bad luck events she knew she had to return to the native ways and Laughing Boy helps her do that. Laughing Boy is a philosophical man. I enjoyed reading about this young loving couple and the joys and sorrows of their relationship.