The Circle by katherena vermette

The day that Cedar Sage Stranger has been both dreading and longing for has finallycome: her sister Phoenix is getting out of prison.

The effect of Phoenix's release cascades through the community. M, the young girl whom she assaulted, is triggered by the news.Her mother, Paulina, is worried and her cousin is angry all feel the threat of Phoenix's release.When Phoenix is seen lingering outside the school to catch a glimpse of her son, Sparrow, the police get a call to file a report but the next thing they know, she has disappeared.

Amid accusations and plots for revenge, past grievances become a poor guide in a moment of danger, and the clumsy armature of law enforcement is no match for the community. Cedar and her and Phoenix's mother, Elsie, continue down different paths of healing, while everyone in their lives form a circle around the chaos, the calm within the storm, and the beauty in the darkness.

Fierce, heartbreaking, and profound, vermette'sThe Circleis the third and final companion novel to her bestsellersThe BreakandThe Strangers.Told from various perspectives, with an unforgettable voice for each chapter, the novel is masterfully structured as a Restorative Justice Circle where all gatherboth the victimized and the accusedto take account of a crime that has altered the course of their lives. It considers what it means to be abandoned by the very systems that claim to offer support, how it feels to gain a sense of belonging, and the unanticipated cost of protecting those you love most. (From Penguin Random House Canada)

katherenavermette is a Mtis writer living inWinnipeg. Her other books include the poetry collectionsNorth End Love Songsandriver woman,the novelThe Breakand the four-book graphic novel seriesA Girl Called Echo.North End Love Songswon the Governor General's Literary Award for poetry.The Breakwas a finalist for the Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize and the Governor General's Literary Award for fiction. Her novelThe Strangerswon the2021 Atwood Gibson Writers' Trust Fiction Prizeand waslonglisted for the 2021 Scotiabank Giller Prize.

• The CBC Books fall reading list: 40 Canadian books to read this season
• The best Canadian fiction of 2023
• katherena vermette's novelThe Circleis about healing, justice and belonging

Interviews with katherenavermette

Katherena Vermette releases last chapter in Strangers trilogy

1 year ago

Duration 2:02

Celebrated Winnipeg author Katherena Vermette is set to release her latest novel, The Circle, which is billed as the last instalment in her Strangers trilogy set in the Manitoba capital.

The Sunday Magazine20:52Trauma, healing and justice: katherena vermette closes The Circle

When Mtis author and poet katherena vermette finished writing her debut novel, The Break, she had no idea the profound effect the characters she created would have on her life. Seven years later, vermette's third and final companion book in the series, The Circle, returns to two families struggling to hold things together when they're forced to reckon with deep wounds that have haunted them for years. Vermette joins Piya Chattopadhyay to discuss how, even though her books are fiction, the situations and choices that her characters face are very real for many Indigenous people in Canada.

Other books by katherenavermette