Women From Away

Year Three Book One: 

Birdie by Tracey Lindberg

October 8, 2015

Laura: My rating is 4 out of 5. The timeline was challenging to follow, especially when some events got mentioned repeatedly. This type of storytelling made me think about how people experience traumatic events. They can come back to affect you at multiple times during your life, and have different meanings each time. Like some of the others commented; the challenging story line makes the reading more rewarding when you do put together the pieces.  By the end, I think I finally got the timeline as: Childhood in Loon Lake,Town (Grand Prairie?) with Aunt Val, Foster home with the Inglesons, Streets in Edmonton, Hospital (San), Gibsons, working at the bakery with Lola, dream journey.

After finishing the book, I still couldn’t figure out what put her in the hospital with the burns. Did someone light her on fire while she was in Edmonton? Or did she light herself on fire while killing her uncle? When/where did she kill her uncle? Then I came across this review and discussion on Cree law.

http://equality.jotwell.com/cree-lawfulness-and-unlawfulness/

A great read but beware of the spoilers.

Many times the book mentioned Bernie being a “half-blood” and that her family couldn’t get a house on the reserve. Encouraged me to read more about history and definitions of Metis and First Nations.

Learned something new. Also really liked the smushed words; sistercousin, sleepwake, etc. Definitely want to read again.

Nikki: I am going to give this book a 3.5. To be honest it took a while for me to get into this book, I found it very confusing and hard to follow at first. Because it didn’t follow a strict timeline or have some sort of pattern or cues as to where in time you were it was tricky. There was a distinct turning point, however, that instantly hooked me into the book. When she returns home and you finally get a little more clarity into what happened with the uncles, it starts to help everything line up. I also really enjoyed when the story started to be broken down and told from the perspective of each woman. What I enjoyed most about this book was the discussion we had. Hearing everyone’s insight and comprehension on the book (especially Angela’s!) made me enjoy the book even more, it really helped me to understand more of the meaning and symbolism. Like for instance when reading the book I wasn’t a huge fan of the combo words, but hearing how the come from aboriginal culture made me appreciate them so much more. Thanks everyone for making me love this book more! 

Lindsay: I give this book a 4 out of 5. I really, really liked it, and in fact, the reason that I’m not ranking it higher is  because truth be told, I found parts of the storyline, references, and symbolism confusing. If I were perhaps more fluent in Aboriginal allegory, I think I not only could have had more clarity, but gotten more out of the book. That being said, I enjoyed the circular storytelling technique used by Lindberg as the pieces of Birdie’s life were revealed to readers. It felt like a puzzle to me, where each chapter, each paragraph unraveled one more piece of her history. At times I found myself engaged so deeply in the reading that it took me a few moments to reground myself back into reality when I put the book down! This for me is a telltale sign of a very strong body of writing; I was truly transported as I flipped through the pages.

I look forward to re-reading Birdie in the future in hopes of both a greater understanding, and even fuller appreciation.

“ … prepare yourself for the possibility that you don’t know all of the possibilities; grace and goodness can come just as fast and honestly as any other circumstance” –Tracy Lindberg, closing thought “For Book Clubs: An Author Interview”

Robyn: This was a challenge. And I wouldn't have it any other way. I found it was hard to understand and follow at first. The circular way of storytelling that I loved in monkey beach was much harder to follow in birdie but more exciting when all of the pieces began to fit together about halfway through this book. I loved the bond birdie found in her women. The reliance and support they provided to become her 'womenfamily' each bringing something unique to birdie. I loved their ability to just trust the process she was going through. Coming from a medical background I found I was growining increasingly concerned about birdies welfare as they "did nothing" how we were actually doing what was needed. The part where she goes outside of herself and sees herself lying on the bed in her filth reminded me of Amanda lindhout going outside of herself when she was being tortured. Comparing how trauma so often causes someone to have an extreme reaction although I understand it's a fiction vs non fiction.  Overall I'd give it a 3.5 stars.

Steph: I would give this book a 4. I really enjoyed Birdie - I thought it was a well-written and well conceived story. The structure was [at times] confusing but it didn't take too long to get back on track.The interplay of trauma and memory, and how it manifests itself in the physical reality, was very interesting. Birdie enters silence because she needs to disconnect and process the trauma(s) in her life. She inhabits her body [or doesn't] as a method of coping – either through her weight or through the men she let's use her [or doesn't might use her]. I liked Birdie as a character because she has a complexity that adds to her believability. The running themes of home [made by the women in the family] and silence [good silence versus bad silence] really offer insight into what it means to be [native] woman in this day. It is a very valuable piece of writing.

As a said before the writing was it times confusing, but it wasn't bad enough to detract from the story. It may even offer a layer of something to pull you into the story a little more… Birdie herself is at times confused about what's happening to her - what happened to her - so the reader gets to share that. I might also "criticize" the story insofar as I wished she had gone further with the other characters. I really wanted to hear more from her mother and from her cousin. And from her aunt. I think their stories might be really interesting too, but I understand why the author focused on Birdie. I think that a little more from the mother might have pushed it to 4.5 for me. Maybe also a little more clarity in the writing - but I really do like her style and there were phrases that really jumped off the page at me - especially how she used language by combing words (bigelegance, sleepingwake, BigHer). I vaguely remember learning in my syntax class that some native languages do combine words like this as a part of their grammar… I don't know if Cree is one of those but I suspect that it is. I love the way she plays with language, with words, to add even more meaning to what Birdie is feeling or experiencing.

Nicole: I would give this book a 4 out of 5. I was very into this book. I can understand the comparison to both Monkey Beach and Green Grass Running water as two other important Aboriginal stories from Canada. I found that it was a little more difficult to follow than Monkey Beach and that there was not as much connection to the land that we notice in Green Grass but I can see the connecting themes and voice. 

Some of my favourite parts of this book were learning about the group of ladies that stuck together in a rather unconventional "ladies stick together" way. It was noted by the author that these ladies stay together because of their reliance on each other, their common experiences with men that leave and their one commonality - having no one. I appreciated the honesty behind this story, not expecting women to be strong for each other and to power through trauma but instead the reality that healing takes time and trauma can take over.  Another part of the book that stood out to me was the idea of women taking up space. Early in the book Birdie speaks to the space she occupies in a room both physically and emotionally and despite size or true presence I understand this as a common female thought - am I in the way? I valued the statements of concern from Birdie about being burdensome or too much, I think this speaks to what each of us have thought at some point. 


Amy: I would give this book a 4.5 out of 5. Just before I started "Birdie"I started "Bad Medicine: A Judge's Struggle for Justice in a First Nations Community" by John Reilly and read this line that stuck with me through the reading of "Birdie":

"We [non-aboriginal people] see wrongdoing as something that needs to be punished. They [Stoney First Nation] see it as an illness in need of healing and as ignorance in need of teaching." pg.46 

Through the main character Bernice, Birdie, Lindberg takes an incredibly complex trauma from heartbreaking beginning to a relativity reconciled end. The story line is circular and mystical so I would suggest approaching it an open mind and a note book! 

I could identify with some of Birdie's character in the struggle to fit in based on her struggle to fit in and to hang on to your core identity despite your life circumstances. But for the most part, I felt that as an Albertan ( from Calgary and familiar with Edmonton) it was important just to absorb this story as an important way to further understand and ally with a deeply hurting part of my community. 

Must read!!


Danielle: Unfortunately I did not finish this book, but after listening to the reviews of the other girls I am excited to read it. I give the cover of the book 5/5.