A Room in the Forest is up for giveaway on 49thShelf until the end of March! 

Head over to our giveaways page for your chance to win and to check out everything else we've got on offer.

*****

A Room in the Forest is set on “the islands of the people” better known as Haida Gwaii.

Lily’s story, in some ways, mirrors my own awakening to the land and injustices around land-use practices on Indigenous territory. It is a coming-of-age story, so Lily is also awakening to the different ways people approach their lives. To the revelation that a life can be formed on alternatives to societal expectations. But most lessons don’t come in a straightforward path. Learning can be complicated by interpersonal relations, family, world events, dreams, hardships and mistakes. Lessons can also be enhanced by intimate encounters in a forest.

These books have been part of my roundabout learning.

*

Athlii Gwaii: Upholding Haida Law on Lyell Island, edited by Jisgang Nika Collison

Back in 1985 the world watched Haida elders being led away by police on the nightly news. Their crime? Upholding a decision made by the Haida Nation. “This is Haida land and there will be no further logging in this area.” These words said by Kilsli Kaji Sting, Miles Richardson Jr. while standing on the line at Athlii Gwaii continue to echo. Eventually, the southern half of Haida Gwaii was protected from industrial logging and within these pages, more than 40 voices tell stories of their experiences, hardships and strategies. I worked for Gwaii Haanas from 2010 to 2014, which is the area that the parties eventually agreed to disagree on (read the book to understand what that means), so to me, this anthology is a treasure.

*

Haida Monumental Art, by George F. MacDonald

In my book, Sissy shows Lily this book while they are in a bar in Prince George and this marks Lily’s first encounter with archival images of historic Haida villages. I felt the same shock when I saw the profound change from bays lined with longhouses and poles and realized the images were a little over a century old. I believe the text, written by an anthropologist and museum director is dated, but this book shows the villages and how they looked during a pivotal time. And don’t forget that things have changed again. Since Robert Davidson raised the first monumental pole in modern times in 1969, more and more have taken their rightful places on the shores of Haida Gwaii.

*

From a Square to a Circle: Haida Basketry, by Delores Churchill

I’m not Haida, so writing from the perspective of Chaz (a half-Haida man) was a bit of a leap. I imagined him as a young man who hasn’t fully accepted his Haida self. His future self (beyond the pages of A Room in the Forest) will learn from his uncle, gran and aunties, but if he had to read a book to give him an overview of his culture, I would hope he found this one. Before Churchill explains everything you ever wanted to know about basketry, she writes about her mother/teacher Selina (born in 1889), traditional Haida governance, societal order, and ways of being. I couldn’t stop reading once I’d started her story.

*

Plants of Coastal British Columbia, by Jim Pojar and Andy MacKinnon

This classic plant guide is essential for those wishing to go beyond calling every conifer cone a pine cone (a particular pet peeve of my forester husband’s). Tonnes of photos, line drawings and helpful descriptions will guide you on this journey. But better yet, get a forester or biologist into the forest with you. They’ll delight in showing you the difference between licorice and maidenhair fern and enrich your experience.

*

Plants of Haida Gwaii, by Nancy J. Turner

Although not mentioned in A Room in the Forest, (it wasn’t published until 10 years after the novel is set) this guide surpasses Plants of Coastal British Columbia as one of my favourite references. It was written with the cooperation and collaboration of Haida knowledge holders and includes Haida names and stories. It also became my first introduction to the idea that not all knowledge is for everyone. When looking up one plant I found this: “The Haida have had many different uses for it, but these are considered to be private knowledge and because of this, and the danger of misuse, uninformed people should keep away from this and other medicinal plants.” I wrote a story about the topic ages ago if you’d like to read more.

*

A Taste of Haida Gwaii, by Susan Musgrave

Susan Musgrave is smart, funny and an insanely talented poet. When she bought the Copper Beech House, a legendary Masset bed and breakfast created by her good friend and island aesthete David Philips, a literary hot spot was born (or continued?). When I was on the Haida Gwaii Arts Council and we would invite top writers from across the country and no one turned down the meagre honourariums we could offer. Writers like Margaret Atwood, Lorna Crozier, Lawrence Hill. They all knew Susan and wanted to stay at her place.

Please also look for her poetry, Obituary of Light: The Sangan River Meditations, a meditation of verse set in her north beach neighbourhood, and not to be missed; and also her latest, Exculpatory Lilies.

*

Potlatch as Pedagogy, by Sara Florence Davidson and Robert Davidson

This book is so good, I almost wish it had a different title. It took me a while to get around to reading it, even though it is very slim. In it Sara Florence Davidson reports and reflects on many conversations with her father, acclaimed Haida artist Robert Davidson. As an educator, her purpose was to find successful ways to include Indigenous knowledge and storytelling into educational practices. Since her father has spent five decades learning and helping others to reawaken Haida culture, she hoped to find out the secret of his success. His stories about his family, raising the first totem pole in a century, and the many potlatches he’s held since offer so much to the general reader and educators alike.

*

So You Girls Remember That: Memories of a Haida Elder, by Gaadgas Nora Bellis, with Jenny Nelson

“Eating alone is just like a poison. I can’t even drink the tea, it tastes so rotten. Here it tastes so good when you’re here, when I drink it with you.” This whimsical book of memories came about when Naanii (Granny in the Old Massett dialect) Nora’s son Charlie Bellis encouraged two young women to record the stories his mother would tell. One of the girls, Maureen McNamera, died way too young and the other, Jenny Nelson, after years of stops and starts eventually brought the stories forward in this book. She added historic context and photos and now everyone can feel as if they are sitting with Naanii Nora and having tea.

*

Hunger Moon, by Traci Skuce

In addition to my Haida Gwaii inspired recommendations, I thought I’d add Traci Skuce’s book of short stories, Hunger Moon. Her characters are all about following their bliss and stepping outside of societal norms. Since some of her characters are treeplanters and others just adventurers, I felt an affinity towards her work. I admire her too, as she’s gone out of her way to mentor other writers via her online creative writing courses called, “The Writers Journey.” How can you not love this tagline? “Travel to the depths. Of your body. Your soul. Your story waits there.”

*

Learn more about A Room in the Forest:

Nineteen-year-old Lily knows she doesn’t belong at a dead-end job in her father’s small-town Alberta furniture store, not when she’s been offered a job in the ancient forests of Haida Gwaii. But her search for a sense of place becomes more complicated when a band of tree planters she meets on the road question her assumptions about whose land she is moving towards. Once at the logging camp, the rugged work and her rough co-workers make her even more uncertain about where she fits in.

While measuring trees, Lily sees a mysterious figure who disappeared into the forest years before. Is he a man or a myth? Everyone has a different opinion. With a logging protest looming, Lily’s coworker and sometimes-friend, Chaz—a young half-Haida man whose white father owns the logging camp—ditches his job thanks to his uncle’s influence. As she meets more locals and learns about the community, Lily discovers surprising secrets about her estranged mother’s time in the area—and that her connection to this place may not be what she thought. Do the rumours Lily keeps hearing about a mysterious hermit have anything to do with her? As more and more questions rise to the surface, Lily plunges deeper into the forest to find out.

Former Haida Gwaii reporter and freelance writer Heather Ramsay makes her fiction debut with a startling coming-of-age novel about challenging old beliefs and finding one’s place in the world.