Description
David A. Robertson is a member of Norway House Cree Nation and The Theory of Crows is his first novel for adults.
This book is a poignant and evocative novel about the bonds of family and the gifts offered by the land. When a troubled father and his estranged teenage daughter head out onto the land in search of the family trapline, they find their way back to themselves, and to each other
Deep in the night, Matthew paces the house, unable to rest. Though his sixteen-year-old daughter, Holly, lies sleeping on the other side of the bedroom door, she is light years away from him. How can he bridge the gap between them when he can’t shake the emptiness he feels inside? Holly knows her father is drifting further from her; what she doesn’t understand is why. Could it be her fault that he seems intent on throwing everything away, including their relationship?
Following a devastating tragedy, Matthew and Holly head out onto the land in search of a long-lost cabin on the family trapline, miles from the Cree community they once called home. But each of them is searching for something more than a place. Matthew hopes to reconnect with the father he has just lost; Holly goes with him because she knows the father she is afraid of losing won’t be able to walk away.
When things go wrong during the journey, they find they have only each other to turn to for support. What happens to father and daughter on the land will test them, and eventually heal them, in ways they never thought possible.
Intergenerational residential school trauma plays out within the lives of a contemporary Cree family living in Winnipeg. Robertson takes us within the tormented hearts and minds of a troubled father and estranged daughter. Challenges are presented, choices made, actions taken, and repercussions reverberate across the family unit. When tragedy strikes, father and daughter return to the land of their ancestors, never having been to their family trapline. Together, they face life and death challenges making choices which makes this a remarkable journey. Life is precious and all encompassing. When we remember our birth land, the land remembers us. Recommended for all readers seeking to work through troubling times. Even when we think we are alone, we are not. - Dr. Laura Horton
David A. Robertson, a writer and freelance journalist, is the recipient of the Writers’ Union of Canada Freedom to Read Award. His memoir, Black Water, won the Carol Shields Winnipeg Book Award and the Alexander Kennedy Isbister Award for Non-Fiction. His middle-grade fantasy series, the Misewa Saga, includes the #1 national bestseller The Barren Grounds. He won the Governor General’s Literary Award for the illustrated books On the Trapline and When We Were Alone. Robertson is also the writer and host of the award-winning podcast Kiwew.
Carol Shields Winnipeg Book Award - 2023 Manitoba Book Awards