After "Saint Marie" was first published in The Atlantic Monthly, Erdrich incorporated it into an expanded version of her first novel entitled Love Medicine (first published in 1984; expanded in 1993). The novel offers episodic chapters that trace the intertwined lives of two families on and surrounding a fictional reservation in Argus, North Dakota, between the years of 1934 and 1984. "Saint Marie," set in 1934, introduces Marie Lazarre prior to marriage and motherhood, events that take place in subsequent chapters of the novel. The short story that follows this tale, "Wild Geese," describes Marie's flight from the convent and subsequent sexual encounter with Nector Kashpaw, who later becomes her husband.

Love Medicine appeared first in a series of four novels, tracing the lives of many of the same characters in the community they share with white Americans and with those of mixed heritage. The Beet Queen (1986), Tracks (1988), The Bingo Palace...