The Firekeeper's Daughter by Angeline Boulley
The Firekeeper's Daughter by Angeline Boulley
Firekeeper’s Daughter is an stunning debut novel by Angeline Boulley about identity, heritage, community, and strength.
18-year-old Daunis lives with her mother in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan. She caused a bit of a local scandal upon her arrival as her mother was the underage daughter of a wealthy white family in town and her late father was a promising hockey player from the nearby Ojibwe reservation who married another girl and got her pregnant before Daunis was even born. Being of mixed heritage, she struggles with feelings of not fitting in; although she has strong ties to both communities, she doesn’t feel fully accepted by either. Following her uncle’s recent death of an overdose and her grandmother’s stroke, she has put her plans to study medicine at university on hold to stay in town and support her fragile mother while they heal.
When Daunis witnesses a shocking murder, she gets swept up in an ongoing undercover drug investigation and agrees to become a confidential informant for the FBI. In doing so, she is forced to look closely at those around her and consider what she’s willing to risk in order to protect her community.
An Indigenous woman herself, Angeline Boulley tells the story with great reverence for the Ojibwe culture and its traditions and lets it permeate the fabric of the story. She touches on some heavy themes throughout the book such as murder, drug use, and sexual violence against women, however she weaves it into a larger, compelling narrative about identity, community, friendship, and resilience, which is beautifully written.
I tore through this book in under 24 hours – once I got into it, I couldn’t put it down. Although there were some heavy subject matters, I appreciate that Boulley didn’t shy away from issues facing many Native Americans, especially as she also focusses on how the Ojibwe community deals with the trauma collectively and processes it to move forward.
Happy reading!
Christine Ebert