A woman's poignant account of her impoverished upbringing in isolated rural communities and her mother’s struggle to give her children more than she had.

In the crushing poverty of post-war rural Manitoba, Naomi, a mother of three, pushes through incredible obstacles to ensure her children’s security and future prosperity. Closely observed by one of those children, Naomi endures decades of financial struggle, male dominance, and the loss of her husband, while endeavouring to shelter her family as their circumstances change again and again.

Named in honour of the homes her mother, Naomi, provided for her family in those difficult years, author Rosalie Tennison’s powerful memoir exposes the beauty and resilience in her humble upbringing. Sad, funny, heartbreaking, and life-affirming, Naomi’s Houses is a fascinating portrait of Prairie life, family turmoil, societal shifts, and the enticing pull of a bigger, faster-paced world. Reflecting on her life from the comfort of a home Naomi could scarcely have imagined, Rosalie leaves readers with an unforgettable story of familial love and perseverance.

Award-winning agricultural journalist Rosalie I. Tennison has never forgotten her rural roots. Her long career has taken her from rural weekly newspapers to a small-town radio station to agricultural trade magazines to the communications department of the Faculty of Agriculture and Food Sciences at the University of Manitoba. She is the recipient of a gold citation from the Canadian Farm Writers’ Federation and is a gold-medal winner of a 2022 Canadian Online Publishing Award. While she loves meeting producers in the fields where they work, she enjoys returning to the warmth of her Winnipeg condo to curl up with her cat and a good book.

Rosalie I. Tennison's profile page

“In Naomi’s Houses, Tennison brings us not only into her own tumultuous upbringing, but also into a time and place in Canada that no longer exists. This book overflows with the small intimate details of a life of struggle––but also of love, resilience, and family.” —Christina Myers, award-winning author of Halfway Home and The List of Last Chances

“In this moving account of relentless poverty and struggle in 1960s rural Manitoba, we watch a resilient mother and observant child adapt to life after the loss of their breadwinner. Tennison keeps sentiment in check, heightening the power of the narrative.”
—Marjorie Doyle, award-winning broadcaster, journalist, and author of Mary Foley, Mary Doyle: Unravelling a Mother’s Secrets

“Blending rural Prairie history and personal narrative, Rosalie I. Tennison’s memoir honours the love and courage of her mother, the sure centre of her childhood. Naomi’s Houses is the richly detailed story of the houses that hold a family across generations and the people that make a house a safe home.” —Jenna Butler, author of the Governor General's Award–nominated Revery: A Year of Bees

“A spellbinding examination of home, hardship, loss, love, and family resilience. The diary excerpts that begin each chapter create an intimate bridge between Tennison’s personal reflections and that of her mother’s—her life, raising children, securing housing, and dealing with the stranglehold of poverty. Certainly, a thought-provoking and captivating journey to savour.”
—Rowan McCandless, author of the Governor General's Award–nominated Persephone's Children