5/5


Written 26 October 2025
Adapted from my review on Goodreads.

Notes

  • holy shit the first 10 chapters have to be the most beautiful passages I’ve read in years
    • Minaki, Redditt, and the Kenora District
    • Gods Lake and the wild rice
    • Finally, the trek back to Minaki from Gods Lake (Saul and his grandma) through the snow, after having been abandoned (were they really? or did their family never make it?).
    • And her death at Minaki. Preventable if the canoe didn’t sink prematurely
  • there is no redemption in the residential school system
  • is it perfect? no — but resoundingly beautiful. it is Canada at its most honest