Just finished this short novel and I’m honestly on the fence about it.
Frenchie is one of several Indigenous natives on a northward trek across a hostile, post-apocalypse North America. In many ways, I find lots of parallels to the world of The Handmaid’s Tale, in that Frenchie and his small tribe are beset on all sides by a over-powerful and desperate state government and Indian turncoats working for the government. The government is working hard to corral all indigenous peoples into schools and clinics, because they are the only ones who can dream(?!) and the government views the Native population as the cure . Needless to say, things are getting crazy but our intrepid heroes know that if they can make it farther north, they can hook up with other groups and find a way to protect themselves. But could the way to save the world rest within our little group?
There is a good horror element to this story as well as it becomes clear that the government (such as it is) has less than pleasant designs on the Indigenous population in general and for our protagonists. There is a love interest and tragic deaths, some happy reunions and a tense roadside rescue.
It was a quick, interesting read and, as someone who grew up by the Cherokee reservation in North Carolina, it has a lot of charm for me. There are good characterizations throughout and the writing is fluid and powerful. My problem is that the background conceit of the apocalypse herein is handled in a very perfunctory way and the Indigenous protagonists are managed in a way not too far from the fabled “Magic Negro” who shows up repeatedly in American cinema. Perhaps it’s just me – and let me state clearly that I have nothing against an Indigenous hero or heroes – but the way that Cherie Dimaline pockets the nature worship and shamanic traditions as the capital-W Way just seems too easy. That said, I enjoyed the book and it kept my interest. Not sure why or how it won all those awards displayed down the cover, though. it wasn’t THAT good.