Highway of Tears by Jessica McDiarmid

One last book for November. It's a sobering non-fiction look at the disturbing disappearances of thousands of Indigenous women along a stretch of highway in Canada. Called the Highway of Tears, this road travels through some pretty desolate places, in between very small communities and towns. 

These disappearances, some over fifty years old, are a national crisis that, hopefully with this book, will be getting some much needed attention and funding. Reading the stories of these young women--most of them teenagers, disappearing and never found, broke my heart, and made me pretty angry at the same time. Their families knew something was wrong, and when they would report their loved ones missing, the police often brushed off their claims, saying the girls ran off on their own, or were troublemakers--prostitutes. In reality, these were young girls who were ignored by law enforcement because they were Indigenous, and that meant they weren't important enough to look for them. 
All of them had dreams to attend college, become forest rangers, psychologists, mothers, artists. They had so much life ahead of them. 

Families spent years searching and begging for help, and often got nothing in return. A few learned of the fates of their daughters and sisters: their bodies were found; stabbed, beaten, left in ditches or off the side of a desolate road. Thrown away like garbage. No one has ever been arrested for these murders. So many unanswered questions. So much heartbreak, the kind that destroys families. Poverty, culture, prejudice, and hundreds of years of oppression certainly play a big part in this outrageous lack of justice. The madness of it all is that it continues on, in 2019. Young women continue to disappear on the Highway of Tears at a consistent pace. 

This was a fascinating, and disturbing look at a national crisis that highlights the continued dismissal of Indigenous people. The utter lack of respect for them as human beings with the same rights to safety and protection as the rest of us is maddening and absolutely shameful. 

Rating: 5/6 for a detailed look at the dangers of the Highway of Tears, the continued dismissal of Indigenous people's safety and concerns for missing loved ones, and the hope that their voices are finally being heard. 

Available in hardcover, ebook, and audio. 

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Highway of Tears by Jessica McDiarmid

Happy People Read and Drink Coffee by Agnes Martin-Lugand

I'm a sucker for a book title that marries coffee and reading.  This novel, translated from French, was completely not what I was expecting; it was an excellent read that packed an emotional wallop.

Diane lives in Paris.  She smokes cigarettes, drinks wine, and doesn't leave her apartment.  Her husband and young daughter were killed in a car accident the year before, and since then she has been incapable of doing anything.  Her literary cafe, Happy People Read and Drink Coffee is suffering in her absence and under the terrible management of her best friend, Felix.  She is simply not functioning at all and pretty much lives in her pajamas.  Life has no meaning to her and she simply doesn't care.  

Felix's announcement that they are going to take a trip somewhere, anywhere to help reset her life spurs Diane into deciding that she will take a trip, but not with Felix.  His idea of a trip involves lots of parties, drinking, and people.  Diane settles on Ireland, and a small town where nothing happens.  Her husband had wanted to go to Ireland, and so that's where she will move for the next few months.  To be alone, to mourn, and to try and move out of her grief.  She packs her possessions, says goodbye to her apartment and life in Paris, and flies to Ireland.  

In Ireland, Diane settles into a small cottage near the beach.  There's another cottage right next door, and an incredibly grumpy and unfriendly photographer lives there.  Edward is pretty pissed there's a neighbor.  Like Diane, he wants nothing to do with anyone else.  The two of them dislike each other the first time they meet.  Edward has no idea why Diane is there, and she's not willing to share her story with anyone.  She truly is in the depths of the worst grief that I've ever read about or experienced.  This is a woman who will sit in a chair and stare out the window for hours.  She smokes like a chimney and barely eats.  

Slowly, Diane and Edward work towards a friendship.  That is the bulk of this novel.  It may not seem like much happens, but so much does!  It's not an action-packed story, but emotionally it is so full.  Your heart just aches for Diane, but at the same time you just want to shake her.  And in the end, she makes a decision that just kills you, but you know it's the best one she can make.  

Good news, though.  There is a sequel coming out next year.  It's already out in French, but the U.S. version Don't Worry, Life is Easy isn't slated to be published until 2017.  I will be first in line to read it.  This was a short novel, but really touched me and is one of my top reads so far for 2016.  I guess because grief has been a constant companion in my life for the past 4 years that it hit home:  we all grieve in different ways, and there is no time limit on it.  But there comes a time where you have to start living and stop feeling guilty and regretful.  The best thing you can do is live a happy, full life in memory of those you've lost.  

Available in hardcover and e-book.  

Rating:  8/10 for a book that has just a few characters and is simply told, but is unforgettable.  You will not soon forget Diane and Edward. 



 

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Happy People Read and Drink Coffee by Agnes Martin-Lugand