Three generations of women at heart of new novel

The first part is based on the life of her great-grandmother, who Good said never saw a non-Indigenous person until she was in her 20s and lived a completely traditional lifestyle.

“It’s her telling her story of great hardship. She lived through the detonation of the Buffalo, the introduction of foreign diseases that their medicines couldn’t deal with because they’d never encountered them before, and through displacement, and the inherent violence of colonialism.”

In the novel, the great-grandmother figure tells her story to Eliza when she first comes home from residential school.

“She’s telling her that story to give her strength to understand that she too had been through a horrific experience and she managed to survive it without surrendering,” Good said.

Eliza later passes that story on to her own daughter, continuing the connection between the generations.

“And so we have the stories of the grandmothers, Eliza and Eliza’s daughter,” Good said.

Good also spent considerable time researching the historical details referenced throughout the novel.

“I had to make sure that I had dates right, places right, and so on. So, right through writing it, there was a lot of research, but I learned all sorts of things; it was great too.”

Earlier this month, Good travelled to Toronto for a launch at the Paradise Theatre.

“It was full house, interested, appreciative audience, a lot of people who had read Five Little Indians [her previous award-winning novel]. It was a really wonderful experience.”

Good said the novel is currently sitting in second place on both the Toronto Star and Globe and Mail bestseller lists.

“It’s very exciting,” she said. “That suggests some people are relating to it.”

—

Cjnbnews@pattisonmedia.com

by battlefordsNOW Staff

Three generations of women at heart of new novel

What's Trending