Fiction Review: Firekeeper's Daughter

For Christmas this year, instead of asking for specific books, I gave my family a list of authors I've never read and about whom I've heard great things. One of those was Angeline Boulley, and I was thrilled that my husband gave me The Firekeeper's Daughter as a gift. I finally see what all the fuss was about! While published as a YA novel, this story has so many layers and such complex themes that it will be loved by any adult, too. It's a mystery/thriller with great emotional depth, set against a fascinating cultural background.

Eighteen-year-old Daunis Fontaine has always had a foot in two worlds, though she often feels as if she doesn't fully belong in either. She lives in Sault (pronounced Soo) Ste. Marie, Michigan, near the Canadian border, with her mother. Her mother's parents were French and Italian, and her father, who died, was a part of the local Ojibwe tribe, though her parents were never married. Her closest ties to the tribe are her half-brother, Levi, her beloved Aunt Teddie, and her best friend Lily. Levi is a part of the renowned Sault Ste. Marie Superiors hockey team, and as the novel begins, he introduces Daunis to a new member of the team who just moved to town. Jamie is gorgeous, polite, and charming to everyone he meets, including Teddie's twin six-year-old girls. Daunis soon starts to fall for him, though she senses he's hiding something. 

Daunis' town, where the tribe seems integrated into the larger community and hockey is king, includes a dark secret. The scourge of meth has reached their community, with tragedy seemingly around every corner now. Lily's ex-boyfriend, Travis, was a straight-A student in all of Daunis' AP classes until he got into drugs, discovered meth, and started dealing. He keeps begging Lily to take him back--and to try meth. Daunis' own Uncle David, her mother's brother, died recently of an overdose, stunning his family since he'd been clean for 15 years. Amid this community in crisis, Daunis discovers an FBI investigation is ongoing and is asked to go undercover as a part of it. She wants to help her community and find out who the source of the meth is and where it's coming from, but she doesn't necessarily agree with the FBI's approach. Her conflicted feelings increase, as does the danger, as she gets closer to answers.

While this is a mystery/thriller at heart, with plenty of suspense, action, and a twisty plot, there is so much more to it. We see the complex grieving process of Daunis and her family, her closeness to both sides of her family, and a burgeoning love in the midst of tragedy. In addition, this novel provides an in-depth look at the modern Native American experience, and Daunis' own particular challenges of living in two different worlds (though, to some extent, all members of the tribe live that way). The details of traditional ceremonies, healing, and customs, and the closeness of the tribal community, are beautiful and fascinating. These details are authentic because the author herself is a member of the Sault Ste. Marie tribe. I loved getting to know Daunis and her family, felt fully immersed in their world, and was rooting for the whole community to get to the bottom of the drug problems and begin to heal.

NOTES: 

The author says this novel is being developed into a TV series (which would be amazing!), but it doesn't show up in IMDb yet. 

The setting was described so beautifully that I wanted to visit and included stop in Sault Ste. Marie on our summer vacation to Michigan! Unfortunately, we had to cancel due to my illness, but I can't wait to see it in person next summer.

494 pages, Henry Holt and Company

Macmillan Audio

This book fits in the following 2024 Reading Challenges:

 

Mount TBR Challenge

Alphabet Soup Challenge - F

Diversity Reading Challenge

Literary Escapes Challenge - Michigan
 

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