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.)

“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.”

“Tremendous.”

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

“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.”

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

“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.'”

“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.”

“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.”

“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.”

“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.”

“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.”