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A review by jordanh
Becoming a Matriarch by Helen Knott
5.0
I have never cried so quickly into a book that I was reading for the first time, or possibly just ever. I was weeping by 30 pages in. I normally bring a book with me to work every day and read it on my lunch break but I couldn't even do that with this book because then I would be going back into work after my break still trying to stop crying.
I don't know, maybe I'm biased. I've actually never even been on a reserve because by the time I was old enough, all the family members my mom was close to either didn't live on the reserve anymore, or the ones who did she wasn't close to. But all the many many stories I have heard throughout my whole life about my mom growing up, holidays, visits on the reserve, made this book feel familiar to me. There were so many moments while reading this that resonated with me despite me not experiencing them, but just knowing that this was something my mom or my grandma experienced.
And oh my god I am so glad I read this when I did. I thought of my Cree grandma the entire time I was reading this. I bought this book late last year and then only a month or so later my grandma ended up in the hospital for 2 months which was an incredibly difficult and stressful time. I always knew losing her would be awful, but it took almost losing her to realize just how awful it would be, and that experience along with reading this book made me so so so grateful to know that I didn't and I still have time with her.
Anyways I've never read a book that felt quite so close to my heart while also not even relating to so many of the experiences of the author. I'm not Cree enough to say that I'm Cree but I feel closer to that side of my family than any that reading this felt so incredibly personal to me. I loved this
I don't know, maybe I'm biased. I've actually never even been on a reserve because by the time I was old enough, all the family members my mom was close to either didn't live on the reserve anymore, or the ones who did she wasn't close to. But all the many many stories I have heard throughout my whole life about my mom growing up, holidays, visits on the reserve, made this book feel familiar to me. There were so many moments while reading this that resonated with me despite me not experiencing them, but just knowing that this was something my mom or my grandma experienced.
And oh my god I am so glad I read this when I did. I thought of my Cree grandma the entire time I was reading this. I bought this book late last year and then only a month or so later my grandma ended up in the hospital for 2 months which was an incredibly difficult and stressful time. I always knew losing her would be awful, but it took almost losing her to realize just how awful it would be, and that experience along with reading this book made me so so so grateful to know that I didn't and I still have time with her.
Anyways I've never read a book that felt quite so close to my heart while also not even relating to so many of the experiences of the author. I'm not Cree enough to say that I'm Cree but I feel closer to that side of my family than any that reading this felt so incredibly personal to me. I loved this