Daughters Are Forever

Susannah D. Ketchum, a former teacher-librarian at the Bishop Strachan
School in Toronto, serves on the Southern Ontario Library Services
Board.

Marilyn, a successful 45-year-old Salish woman with a master’s degree
in social work, has become alienated from her culture and herself. As
she tries to help another Native mother regain custody of her children,
Marilyn is tortured by an awareness of her own maternal inadequacies,
both now and when her daughters were young. (The author, herself a
member of the Sto:Loh Nation, dedicates this novel to her daughters
Columpa and Tania—“you so deserved the best”—suggesting that
there may be autobiographical elements to the work.)

The publisher notes that Maracle “incorporates an innovative
structure—one based on Salish Nation storytelling”—to relate
Marilyn’s story. The first part of the book is told from the
perspective of Westwind, who recounts the disastrous coming of the
whites. Westwind also remains present throughout the book (“During
Oka, even Westwind had grown quiet with the weight of the emotions every
human child was feeling”). As Marilyn reconnects with her culture and
Native ways, she is transformed, healing herself and, eventually, her
relationship with her daughters.

Daughters Are Forever is not an easy read. Most of the scenes involving
children are extremely disturbing. Marilyn’s retreats into memory, as
well as several episodes of “gapping out,” create a complex, often
confusing story. And many of Marilyn’s diary entries, scattered
throughout the narrative, raise more questions than they answer,
disrupting the storyline even further. Nevertheless, the novel does
provide valuable insights into First Nations perspectives.