 Beatrice Culleton Mosionier  Fiction  Shadow Lake, British Columbia  316 pages.  Aimee Scribe

 Author is 64 years old.  Born in St. Boniface Manitoba and currently resides in Toronto.  Métis Woman  Raised in foster care, due to her parents alcoholism.  Mosionier’s most well known novel is In Search of April Raintree, first published 30 years ago in1983. Mosionier is the youngest of four children, two sisters and one brother. Both sisters committed suicide. For emotional support Mosionier began writing. Reading her novels you'll notice the similarities between her life and her characters and their troubles thoughout the novel.

Main Character 1)Christine Webster: Middle aged Married to Peter Webster and together had a son named Todd Brown skin, long black hair Metis, and raised in foster homes (like the author) Children’s book author Lives in Shadow Lake, BC Christine had a tough childhood. As a child she has been molested and abused. She has also been separated from her sister Leona through the foster care system. Christine has blamed all the wrongs in her past on herself and for that she believes she’s evil and does not deserve good things for herself.

Christine is a child author, she travels from her home in BC to Norway House MB to promote her stories. When Christine returns home she discovers her husband Peter and son Todd has crashed into a river and their bodies have not been recovered. The missing bodies questioned the authority to believed the accident has been staged. Christine begins to go back into her memories, believing she is evil and deserved the loss of her loved ones. A Strange man comes around, named Howard, always came around in attempt to comfort Christine with the odds going on in her life. However the man only annoyed Christine and reminded her of a man she could not remember.

Summary Cont. Christine recalls a memory of her living with a new foster family as a teenager. Dr. Coran was a strict cruel father, he even went to chop off his daughter’s finger when unpleased. Christine even suspected he was guilty of incest. Dr. Coran even attempted to rape Christine before police interfered. Christine eventually got these secrets unraveled, but the Corans ran away, to escape prison. Christine's memory was interrupted once her home was suddenly engulfed in flames. Her dog follows the guilty party into the forest where a home is discovered. The man was Howard, but not really. Dr. Coran has grown a beard and wore glasses. Because Christine also grew so she mistook him for a shorter man. Dr. Coran held Peter And Todd hostage in attempt to ruin Christine's life as she did to him. Once Dr. Coran’s plot had failed he committed suicide with a bullet to the head. Eventually the family was reunited and Christine realized she was not evil and happy being herself.

Likes- The way the author used memories to tell the story The communication between Christine, the main character, and Wapan, the wolf. The mystery of whether or not Christine's husband and son were alive. Dislikes- The length of the chapters, too long The beginning, it took awhile to get into the story There was a few insignificant pieces throughout the novel that was just a waste of space Some extreme similarities between this novel and In Search of April Raintree

Vocabulary 1)‘… I resented Leona’s condescending attitude.’ Acting in a way that betrays a feeling of patronizing superiority 2) ‘I had soon reverted to my squiggly little introverted style.’ A shy, reticent, and typically self-centered person. 3) ‘My period of tranquility had been too short.’ Free from disturbance; calm. 4) ‘I prepared for their skepticism…’ the disbelief in any claims of ultimate knowledge. 5) ‘Tentatively I ran my hand along the side of her neck.’ Done without confidence; hesitant. 6) ‘At school we have to take Catechism’. A summary of the principles of Christian religion in the form of questions and answers, used for the instruction of Christians.

Three reasons to read this novel: The author creates twists and turns in the novel not expected by the reader. The novel shines a light on the child foster care System and (in the worst case scenario) what a child may go through. It’s easy to follow and understand

To me the theme of the novel is a mystery. Christine digs deeper and deeper into the past and finds herself closer and closer to realization to the sudden death of her husband and son.

Mrs. Mosionier is a genius with words. When it came to around to the release of her second novel she did not disappoint. With the sudden loss of her child and husband Christine (protagonist) deals with stress and agony. Haunted by the memory of her past, Christine’s horrid events unravel leading to the exciting suspenseful conclusion.

I would change the beginning of the novel, it started off slow and took awhile to get into the novel and really enjoy it. I would simply cut out a bunch of material that was not crucial to the main story line.