Three Day Road - Hardcover

Boyden, Joseph

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0297847929 ISBN 13: 9780297847922

Publisher: W&N, 2005

Synopsis

THREE DAY ROAD is a First World War novel told through the eyes of two Canadian Cree Indians: Niska, the last Indian woman living off the land in Canada, and her nephew, Xavier, who reluctantly joins the far-away war at the urging of his only friend, Elijah - a Cree boy raised in the reservation schools. Weaving between the horrors of the trenches and the wastes of No-man's land (where Elijah and Xavier hone their hunting skills as snipers and react in their very different ways to the never-ending carnage around them), and Niska's memories of growing up in the snowy wilderness of the Canadian North, the stories of aunt and nephew counterpoint each other forming a rich and spellbinding tapestry.Powerful, poignant and utterly compelling, THREE DAY ROAD is a novel about war and loyalty; ancestors and history; friendship and family, and the dark secrets of the human heart. It tells the story of the unknown, and unsung Indian snipers of the Great War, offers a unique and unforgettable account of life in the trenches and paints an evocative portrait of wilderness existence and the death of the Indian way of life.

About this title

Review:

an absorbing read, with chilling, exhaustive detail. (Adam Piette SCOTLAND ON SUNDAY)

¿It takes an exceptionally intense and clear vision for a writer to persuade us that there is anything new to be said about the Great War. Yet every now and then a book comes along that rescues from the mire and carnage a genuinely new perspective on the awful events of 1914-1918. Focusing on the rarely-told stories of indigenous people enlisted into the Canadian army, Joseph Boyden¿s first novel, is one such book.' (Laurence Wareing THE GLASGOW HERALD)

There are also lyrical moments which posses an eerie power - especially where Boyden writes about the northern landscape and the human relationship to it. He has illuminated a forgotten corner of the Great War and that, in itself is a prodigious achievement. (Julie Wheelwright THE INDEPENDENT)

Perhaps the most startling success of this book is the way it combines a tale of racial and cultural displacement with a mystic saga¿. He guides us through immensely complex stories with subtlety and grace.¿ (Murrough O'Brien THE INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY)

There have been so many fine novels inspired by the First World War that to read one that is not just harrowing, but fresh, comes as a pleasant surprise¿. (it¿s) a fully rounded work of fiction which, after a quiet opening, develops into a real page-turner¿¿. His portrait of an indigenous people who are, in their way, hunted to near-extinction is poignant and convincing.¿ (David Robson THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH)

a first rate read. (Jerry Todd-Jenkins CANADA POST)

Book Description:

A spellbinding, unprecedented story of the Great War. Told from the point of view of an American Indian sniper, intertwined with the story of his aunt - the last of the Cree Indians to live off the snowy wilderness of North America.

About this edition

• Publisher: W&N
• Publication date: 2005
• ISBN 10: 0297847929
• ISBN 13: 9780297847922
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 352