Celia's Song

Mink is a witness, a shape shifter, compelled to follow the story that has ensnared Celia and her village, on the West coast of Vancouver Island in Nuu'Chahlnuth territory.

Celia is a seer who - despite being convinced she's a little “off” - must heal her village with the assistance of her sister, her mother and father, and her nephews.

While mink is visiting, a double-headed sea serpent falls off the house front during a fierce storm. The old snake, ostracized from the village decades earlier, has left his terrible influence on Amos, a residential school survivor. The occurrence signals the unfolding of an ordeal that pulls Celia out of her reveries and into the tragedy of her cousin's granddaughter.

Each one of Celia's family becomes involved in creating a greater solution than merely attending to her cousin's granddaughter.

Celia's Song relates one Nuu'Chahlnuth family's harrowing experiences over several generations, after the brutality, interference, and neglect resulting from contact with Europeans.

Bespeak Audio Editions brings Canadian voices to the world with audiobook editions of some of the country's greatest works of literature, performed by Canadian actors.

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Celia's Song

Mink is a witness, a shape shifter, compelled to follow the story that has ensnared Celia and her village, on the West coast of Vancouver Island in Nuu'Chahlnuth territory.

Celia is a seer who - despite being convinced she's a little “off” - must heal her village with the assistance of her sister, her mother and father, and her nephews.

While mink is visiting, a double-headed sea serpent falls off the house front during a fierce storm. The old snake, ostracized from the village decades earlier, has left his terrible influence on Amos, a residential school survivor. The occurrence signals the unfolding of an ordeal that pulls Celia out of her reveries and into the tragedy of her cousin's granddaughter.

Each one of Celia's family becomes involved in creating a greater solution than merely attending to her cousin's granddaughter.

Celia's Song relates one Nuu'Chahlnuth family's harrowing experiences over several generations, after the brutality, interference, and neglect resulting from contact with Europeans.

Bespeak Audio Editions brings Canadian voices to the world with audiobook editions of some of the country's greatest works of literature, performed by Canadian actors.

26.99 In Stock
Celia's Song

Celia's Song

by Lee Maracle

Narrated by Columpa Bobb

Unabridged — 10 hours, 7 minutes

Celia's Song

Celia's Song

by Lee Maracle

Narrated by Columpa Bobb

Unabridged — 10 hours, 7 minutes

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Overview

Mink is a witness, a shape shifter, compelled to follow the story that has ensnared Celia and her village, on the West coast of Vancouver Island in Nuu'Chahlnuth territory.

Celia is a seer who - despite being convinced she's a little “off” - must heal her village with the assistance of her sister, her mother and father, and her nephews.

While mink is visiting, a double-headed sea serpent falls off the house front during a fierce storm. The old snake, ostracized from the village decades earlier, has left his terrible influence on Amos, a residential school survivor. The occurrence signals the unfolding of an ordeal that pulls Celia out of her reveries and into the tragedy of her cousin's granddaughter.

Each one of Celia's family becomes involved in creating a greater solution than merely attending to her cousin's granddaughter.

Celia's Song relates one Nuu'Chahlnuth family's harrowing experiences over several generations, after the brutality, interference, and neglect resulting from contact with Europeans.

Bespeak Audio Editions brings Canadian voices to the world with audiobook editions of some of the country's greatest works of literature, performed by Canadian actors.


Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly

12/15/2014
This novel is the seventh work of fiction from one of Canada's most acclaimed aboriginal authors and critics. Maracle, author of Ravensong and Daughters are Forever, is an elder from Sto:lo Nation (The People of the River) on the West Coast of Canada. This story is narrated by Mink, who bears witness to the crisis that follows the suicide of dreamer-seer Celia's son, Jimmy. The structure takes on the character of Celia's dreams, "scattered moving pictures, disconnected from current time," a format that Maracle expertly uses to tell of the history of contact with the Europeans. Beginning with Celia's great-great-grandmother being renamed Alice in exchange for medicines, Celia's visions trace the effects of colonization, beginning with the medicine that did nothing for the small-pox that came with the newcomers blankets, through the horrors of residential schools, down to the present day. Mink insists that bearing witness to the past and present is of great importance, and unflinchingly does so, along with Celia and her nephew Jacob. Celia's scattered images coalesce into a hauntingly beautiful narrative and eventually into a way forward from the pain. Maracle in no way suggests that the answers to Canada's colonial past are clear, but she tells a fiercely honest and wonderfully compassionate story. (Nov.)

Smaro Kamboureli

“Cedar speaks. Bones demand the burial and loyalty due to them. Scents unravel memories. A two-headed serpent dislodges itself from a longhouse and wreaks havoc. Stories fiction themselves, have their own mind. Humans trip on the restless past, remember the future. And a shape-shifting mink, witness par excellence, watches it all unfold under its unflinching eye. Lee Maracle's Sto:lo characters re-discover, against all odds, the restoring power of ceremony. Disturbing and heartbreaking, but also uplifting and inspirational, Celia's Song is mind-changing.”

Waubgeshig Rice

“Tremendous.”

Rover Arts

“Lee Maracle is one of Canada's bravest literary voices. She writes with clear-eyed fierceness.”

CBC All in a Day

“There is no book that I've read that has had such an emotional impact. A stunning achievement. It is one of the absolute best books I've read in years and years.”

CBC Books

“Vividly brings to life the destructive legacy of colonial times — and a community's capacity for healing.”

Now Magazine

“The story Maracle tells is one that makes intimate links between personal and cultural renewal, and illuminates the deep value of doing things 'just as her ancestors would have.'”

Quill & Quire

“In gentle yet powerful prose, Maracle underscores the horrifying impact of the Residential School System, the ongoing problem of suicide, and the loss of tradition that continue to plague First Nations communities.”

Winnipeg Review

“Reading Lee Maracle's Celia's Song feels like the best breathing I've ever done. It's like finding an unlikely friend who truly recognizes me ... both the content and structure of Celia's Song transcend my limited worldview and expand my experience of humanity.”

Vancouver Sun

“If you care about reconciliation and justice in Canada, ferociously beautiful prose and complex, compassionate character development, make time this year to listen to Celia's song.”

The Globe and Mail

“Maracle does not shy away from the worst social ills pulling the community apart — suicide, alcoholism, and sexual abuse among them — but she denies the fatalistic view, offering room for hope instead.”

Quill and Quire

“In gentle yet powerful prose, Maracle underscores the horrifying impact of the Residential School System, the ongoing problem of suicide, and the loss of tradition that continue to plague First Nations communities.”

JULY 2024 - AudioFile

In the great tradition of storytelling, Columpa Bobb tells of a village in Nuu'Chahlnuth territory in southwestern British Columbia. Told from the point of view of Mink, a shape-shifter, the account traces events in Celia's village, particularly her attempt to help her community heal after a brutal incident. Bobb takes advantage of rhythm, riding the emotions of the characters and the various threads of their history. She conveys the hopelessness they feel at their alienation from their village's culture. In the end, however, the message of the resilience of the people and their culture is paramount. It's a story best told, not read, and Bobb's poignant performance will stay with the listener for a long time. J.E.M. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2024, Portland, Maine

Product Details

BN ID: 2940192205587
Publisher: ECW Press
Publication date: 06/12/2024
Edition description: Unabridged
Age Range: 12 - 17 Years
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