Before her death, Rubis Caillou Morin sends her son west to help her brothers settle new land. Raoul carries with him a shadowy understanding of why his mother died, and a red book filled with her wisdom and love. The book sees Raoul through life, and helps his great-granddaughter find the truth about healers, Rubis, and the loyalty, responsibility, and consequence that rules her family.

Because her parents “made it to a hospital on time,” Paulette Dubé was born in Westlock, Alberta. Growing up in the French village of Legal, she watched her third sister being born on the kitchen table and was hooked on “magic,” as her dad called it. Today, she relies heavily on the good fortune of living in Jasper National Park with her family for her daily dose of magic realism. Talon, her first novel, made the shortlists for the 1999 Canadian Literary Awards, the Alberta Writers’ Guild Best Novel Award (2003) and the Starburst Award (2003). Her poetry garnered a number of rewards including the Milton Acorn Memorial People’s Poetry Award (1994), the CBC Alberta Anthology (1998) and the CBC Literary Awards (2005). Her most recent book is the poetry collection, Gaits (Thistledown, 2010).

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