Sisters of Grass

Lynne Perras teaches communication arts at the University of Calgary.

This poetic novel revolves around the life of Margaret, a young
half-Native girl living in British Columbia during the latter part of
the 19th century. Her story is brought to life by the ruminations of
Anna, a modern-day museum curator who discovers and prepares for exhibit
a box of belongings she assumes to have been Margaret’s.

Anna travels to the area in which Margaret grew up. As she pieces
together bits of information, Kishkan is able to reveal a great deal
about the beauty and hardships of farm life. We also learn about the
social customs in Canada during Margaret’s time and the general
attitudes toward Natives. Margaret’s mother is Native and her father
is American, so both the strengths and limitations of the natural world
and the urban milieu are portrayed. Margaret falls in love with
Nicholas, a student and photographer who visits the area; ultimately,
she must choose between her beloved land and a future with Nicholas in
New York.

While the characterization is not as vital as it might be, the language
beautifully conveys the spirituality inherent in the land and also in
the relationship that develops between Anna and Margaret, despite the
100-year separation. Anna realizes that she can never fully document
Margaret’s life or do it justice in an exhibit: “I spend some time
photographing the items I’ll be using for the exhibit in order to
archive them properly. Each object will be accompanied by a full
description. But what it won’t say, could never say, is how the
fabrics came to their softness, decades of carefully drying teacups and
plates, the weight of sleeping lovers, the endless washing and hanging
out in sunlight and fog.”