Amanda West Lewis' 3 favorite reads in 2023

This book is a saga, in that it covers a wide swath of historical time – a time span exactly in relation to the life of one human being. Perhaps part of the reason I was drawn to it is that the time frame is similar to my own. I understood the politics and knew of the players.

But what I really loved was the way that the central character, Roland, doesn’t see things. He lives his life without understanding his life or the choices he is making. He can’t see beyond the immediacy of his moment. But as he ages, you watch things start to fit together. Perhaps this is the hope we all have – that our lives will start to make sense when we view them backwards.

The book is a brilliant view into politics and the pressures that social movements exert upon a person. 

This is a beautifully written memoir by a prominent First Nations writer and theatre creator. I was left with so many stunning images of life on the land, of growing up in the North, of growing up in a healthy and loving family.

The book changes every preconception you have about First Nations communities and culture. It doesn’t have a narrative or chronological arc, rather it’s like a series of short stories – anecdotes that become almost Thuberesque in their idiosyncratic characters.

At a time when we are trying to come to grips with the legacy of residential schools, the book is honest, optimistic, realistic, and profoundly uplifting. 

Being a horse person, I have to admit I loved the horsey-ness of this book. But more importantly, the politics are revealing.

Brooks uses the reality and the metaphor of horse breeding and racing to examine our relationship to slavery. Her story exists both contemporarily and in the past. 1850, 1954, and 2019. Part of the horror of it is how little things have changed over that century and a half.

It’s a wonderful read, and an inspiring blend of fact and fiction. Because I, too, write historical fiction, I am always interested in how writers work with their research, and how they form a setting that doesn’t feel research-heavy. Brooks is a master at that. Her ability to set her reader in a historical time that feels completely contemporary is amazing. She’s also a fine writer, who handles descriptions like no one else.