It’s a mystery with a very discernible answer within the first few chapters. Peters can be heavy-handed, and it is frustratingly clear...that something is amiss with Norma’s parentage. It’s equally trying when the author uses dei ex machina to move the plot forward ... But if plot is not Peters’s strength, she excels in writing characters for whom we can’t help rooting ... Peters takes on the monumental task of giving witness to people who suffered through racist attempts of erasure like her Mi’kmaw ancestors.
Peters, a writer of Mi’kmaw descent, presents the Mi’kmaq as struggling to hold on to the things that make them Indian while surrounded by a culture that wants to erase them. But in telling the story from the point-of-view of two Indians...she recenters the narrative ... A haunting novel, unfurling slowly and far too casually, a nightmare told over a cup of tea. A little research reveals the horrific truths underlying Peters’s story: Native children in both the US and Canada were kidnapped and stolen at alarming rates for a long time, raised in cultures just footsteps from their own, without a clue about their true origins.
Not meant to be a mystery. The strength of Amanda Peters’s novel lies in its understanding of how trauma spreads through a life and a family, and its depiction of the challenges facing Indigenous people ... Though the plot is overdetermined and overly drawn out, nuanced characterizations benefit from all the space they have to develop.
Peters’ debut combines narrative skill and a poignant story for a wonderful novel to which many readers will gravitate ... The story is told in braided strands, and it is a testament to Peters’ ability that both strands fascinate. Indigenous stories like this matter, and while little is easy for Peters’ characters, in the end, for all of them—even for those who stole a small child—there is hope.
Heartrending ... Heartbreaking as it details two families’ open wounds—which, untreated or untreatable, continue to fester across the years––this is a novel about prejudice, unaddressed trauma, and the incalculable costs of concealing the truth. Its late developments are a balm, but not a cure; they speak to the endurance of family bonds—and to the significance of forgiveness.
Enthralling ... Peters traces their experiences over several decades, and their reunion, when it finally comes, is powerfully rendered. The result is a cogent and heartfelt look at the ineffable pull of family ties.
Peters beautifully explores loss, grief, hope, and the invisible tether that keeps families intact even when they are ripped apart. A quiet and poignant debut from a writer to watch.
