There are too many stories about Indigenous women who go missing or are murdered, and it doesn’t seem as though official sources such as government, police or the courts respond in a way that works toward finding justice or even solutions. At least that is the way Wren StrongEagle sees it.

Wren is devastated when her twin sister, Raven, mysteriously disappears after the two spend an evening visiting at a local pub. When Wren files a missing persons report with the local police, she is dismissed and becomes convinced the case will not be properly investigated. As she follows media reports, Wren realizes that the same heartbreak she’s feeling is the same for too many families, indeed for whole Nations. Something within Wren snaps and she decides to take justice into her own hands. She soon disappears into a darkness, struggling to come to terms with the type of justice she delivers. Throughout her choices, and every step along the way, Wren feels as though she is being guided. But, by what?

Cree/Dene writer and artist Carol Rose GoldenEagle was appointed Saskatchewan's Poet Laureate in 2021. She is the author of the award-winning novel Bearskin Diary. It was chosen as the national Aboriginal Literature Title for 2017. The French language translation, entitled Peau D'ours, won a Saskatchewan Book Award in 2019. Her first book of poetry, Hiraeth, was shortlisted for a 2019 Saskatchewan Book Award. Her second novel, Bone Black, was shortlisted for both the 2020 Rasmussen & Co. Indigenous Peoples’ Writing Book Award (Saskatchewan Book Awards) and Muslims for Peace and Justice Fiction Book Award. Carol's latest novel, The Narrows of Fear (Wapawikoscikanik), won the 2021 Rasmussen & Co. Indigenous Peoples' Writing Award (Saskatchewan Book Awards), and her poetry collection Essential Ingredients was shortlisted for the 2022 SK Arts Poetry Award. Carol was also recently honoured with the Saskatchewan Order of Merit. Stations of the Crossed is Carol’s third poetry collection.

A visual artist, her work has been exhibited in art galleries across Saskatchewan and Northern Canada. A CD of women’s drum songs, Squaw’kin Iskwewak Wymyns’ Songs, in which Carol is featured, was nominated for a Prairie Music Award. Before pursuing art on a full-time basis, Carol worked as a journalist for more than 30 years in television and radio at APTN, CTV, and CBC. She lives in Regina Beach, Saskatchewan. www.carolrosegoldeneagle.ca

Carol Rose GoldenEagle's profile page

• Short-listed, Muslims for Peace and Justice Fiction Book Award
• Short-listed, Rasmussen & Co. Indigenous Peoples’ Writing Book Award

“When it comes to stories about missing and murdered Indigenous women, Wren StrongEagle is the character we want to enact justice… With vivid prose and an intense page-turning plot, Bone Black examines police indifference, systemic racism, and the power of prayer and spiritual guidance, and reminds us that the crisis in Canada of missing and murdered Indigenous women continues to need our attention.”

All Lit Up’s list of “Season’s Readings”

Brilliant novel!

by MapleBooks