At first, I found the style fairly jarring. This was not what I was expecting. And I am not sure it’s entirely appropriate, certainly if you are looking for a rigourous historical study. But, as I read it, I found it worked well enough. Well enough that it triggered my own creative ambitions, much like the other book I read in this series.
Where you read it here or somewhere else, the story of the Metis in the “North West” is tragic. This version, which emphasizes the plans of Dumont and Riel, is particularly tragic, as you are exposed to the possibility that Dumont could have easily delayed and thwarted the Canadians (at least for one season), and who knows how that would have changed how Canada treated the Metis and the other native Canadians. Instead, he listened to Riel, and that dynamic is very compelling as much as it’s tragic.
An engaging telling of the story.
7/10
- Paperback: 224 pages
- Publisher: Hamish Hamilton; Reprint edition (Sept. 3 2013)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0143055860
- ISBN-13: 978-0143055860