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Prairie Edge
Downtrodden heroes are the focus of Prairie Edge, an intimate, unsparing novel about the lives of Indigenous people in Canada.
Ezzy is an aimless young man of Métis descent who has been scarred by stints in prison. He struggles to find meaning in his life. Grey is a fiery student activist who fights to empower her people, contending with opportunistic colleagues who are more interested in marketing themselves than in effecting change. She takes Ezzy under her wing. They both may be “prairie poor,” but they find moments of warmth within squalor, whether they’re bonding over a spirited crib game or benefiting from the unconditional love of Ezzy’s Aunt May, who fights to overcome demons of her own. Raring to make a political statement, the duo carries out a reckless plot to relocate dozens of wild bison to downtown Edmonton. But when a chance encounter leads to violence and murder, they are forced to reckon with their past demons even as their futures are placed in jeopardy.
Written from both Ezzy and Grey’s perspectives, the novel is gritty and lyrical as it reckons with the lots of Indigenous people in contemporary times. It is also informed by flashbacks and visions. Telling details—stitchings made out of beads, dreams of wild animals and birds that carry symbolic weight—flesh out Ezzy and Grey’s roots. Floating between halfway houses, run-down trailers, and rehabilitation centers, it’s a sober picture of dispossessed lives on the margins. While there are no easy answers to Ezzy and Grey’s predicaments, the book’s bittersweet conclusion holds out hope for solidarity and progress.
Giving eloquent voice to Indigenous characters and acknowledging their challenges, Prairie Edge is a powerful novel about lives in flux amid the looming threat of cultural extinction.
Reviewed by
Ho Lin
Disclosure: This article is not an endorsement, but a review. The publisher of this book provided free copies of the book to have their book reviewed by a professional reviewer. No fee was paid by the publisher for this review. Foreword Reviews only recommends books that we love. Foreword Magazine, Inc. is disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.
