A review by jennaniho
Becoming a Matriarch by Helen Knott

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense slow-paced

5.0

As someone just beginning to understand the painful and complex history Indigenous people have endured, this book resonated with me on a deeply personal level. Knott's storytelling is masterful, forcing me to confront my own biases—within myself, my family, and especially toward my Indigenous ancestors. I found myself in tears throughout the book and felt an overwhelming urge to embrace the author multiple times.

The book is deeply personal and will challenge you in many ways. Helen shares her raw emotions as she navigates the loss of her mother to cancer and, soon after, her grandmother to dementia. It’s a story about grief, letting go, and the uncertainty we often feel with our choices. Knott beautifully connects with her foremothers through her pain, receiving drops of wisdom along the way. I especially appreciated how she captures the difficulty of facing the present while still disentangling ourselves from the past.
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