Suha Tariq

Katherena Vermette, The Strangers.

Toronto: Hamish Hamilton, 2021. $29.95.

A story about a multi-generational Indigenous family, The Strangers by Katherena Vermette is a novel that beautifully explores the many invisible threads intertwining all people, especially when it seems as though we have been torn apart. It follows the perspectives of four characters (although many, many other characters come into play throughout the novel) over the course of five years.
We begin with Phoenix, a strong, courageous 17 year old girl who has been incarcerated and is about to give birth in prison. In the following chapters, which are divided by the years that pass within the story, we are acquainted with Phoenix’s book-smart but shy younger sister, Cedar Sage, who is forced to move from one foster home to another, their mother Elsie, who battles against addiction for a chance to restore her family, and Margaret, who mourns the loss of the choices and opportunities that were ripped away from her in an institution that systematically oppresses her and her people. Throughout it all, the ghost of Elsie’s late daughter, Sparrow, haunts the story.
From the very beginning, this book does not palliate the difficulties faced by these four Métis women, who perfectly capture the authentic experiences of many Indigenous families who have struggled against colonial powers and the systemic pressures that emerge from living on the divide between two worlds. Vermette is meticulous in her storytelling––the vernacular of each character, the habits, thoughts and emotions that guide their choices and even the very names that represent who they are. Her novel is fraught with the pain of loss; when Phoenix’s baby is ripped away from her as she gives birth, a mirror image of her sister’s death. Both children share the same fate and the same name: Sparrow Stranger. The last name Stranger, shared by all of the women in this book, is an emblem of how Indigenous families are ripped apart so often, yet remain connected through stories passed down the generations. Stranger represents the distance between Elsie and her daughters as she fights to regain custody of them, it represents the strangeness of Phoenix and Cedar’s absent father, and the institutional estrangement from Métis traditions and cultural practices.
Over the course of five years, each character (and the Stranger family as a whole) faces many challenges, some of which are insurmountable due to preexisting barriers that are all too common within Indigenous communities, a result of colonial powers that still overshadow their way of life today. Still, Vermette emphasizes their victories, celebrating the unbreakable threads that tie the Strangers together, despite everything trying to tear them apart for good. Themes of family, love and courage are at the forefront of this beautiful prose. In everything that the Strangers go through, what stands out the most is their strength and resilience, which is no doubt a testament to the collective power of Indigenous communities in Canada.
I loved the modern setting of the book, especially the scenes set during the COVID-19 pandemic. When Cedar moves away for university, she mentions how she will have to quarantine for two weeks and how everyone in the common rooms are wearing masks. The COVID-19 pandemic is a tragedy that everyone in Canada and around the world is facing together, and its mention in modern literature sets the story against a backdrop that is both familiar and alien—unexpected, but more than welcome. Vermette’s writing is like no other, it bleeds a melody so beautifully sorrowful, yet expertly navigates the terrain of its plot. It’s a story about telling stories, and how the act of doing so binds people together with memories, lessons and the love that comes from family, both lost and found.

SUHA TARIQ

is a Canadian writer and editor who was born in Pakistan and spent her childhood in Saudi Arabia. She now resides in Milton, Ontario. Suha is the Publishing & Web Intern for The Ampersand Review of Writing & Publishing. She is a fourth year student in the Creative Writing and Publishing program at Sheridan College and works as a ghostwriter for The Urban Writers. Suha writes mostly shorter non-fiction works, however, she plans to author her own fiction novels in the upcoming years. She was also featured on Canada One News for their “Students In A Pandemic” special.