A Grandmother Begins the Story follows five generations of Métis women managing their traumas and trying to heal from them.
Synopsis
Carter, a young mother, wants to reconnect with her heritage. Allie wants to get to know her daughter and protect her from her own mother. Lucie tries to get her granddaughter, whom she’s never met, to help her die. Geneviève wants to overcome her alcoholism before it’s too late. And Mamé is in the Afterlife torn between ensuring her descendants are okay and letting them go.
There are also some ancient canine and bison perspectives, which are equally compelling and heart-wrenching.
Review of A Grandmother Begins the Story
The characters are so well-crafted that it is not difficult to keep track of them, even though there are many. Each character’s chapter was as riveting as the next. If I had to choose my favourite POVs, they would be Carter, Dee, and Geneviève. The characters feel fully realized as if they could walk off the page and start a chat with you.
The chapters are more like vignettes, from half a page to several pages.
Themes include colonialism, generational trauma, grief, life, death, and family.
This novel is beautifully written and entirely captivating. I could have read an additional three-hundred pages of it. It is emotional and moving but also ripe with Native humour.
My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Now Available.
Thank you to Penguin Random House Canada for sending a finished copy to review.
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