Kiss of the Fur Queen, Tomson Highway
Kiss of the Fur Queen, Tomson Highway
List: $19.00 | Sale: $13.30
Club: $9.50

Kiss of the Fur Queen

Author: Tomson Highway

Narrator: Patricia Cano

Unabridged: 9 hr 52 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 06/01/2021

Synopsis

Born into a magical Cree world in snowy northern Manitoba, Champion and Ooneemeetoo Okimasis are all too soon torn from their family and thrust into the hostile world of a Catholic residential school. Their language is forbidden, their names are changed to Jeremiah and Gabriel, and both boys are abused by priests.

As young men, estranged from their own people and alienated from the culture imposed upon them, the Okimasis brothers fight to survive. Wherever they go, the Fur Queen--a wily, shape-shifting trickster--watches over them with a protective eye. For Jeremiah and Gabriel are destined to be artists. Through music and dance they soar.

About The Author

TOMSON HIGHWAY is a Cree from Brochet, in northern Manitoba. He is the celebrated author of the plays The Rez Sisters and Dry Lips Oughta Move to Kapuskasing, both of which won Dora Mavor Moore Awards and Floyd S. Chalmers Awards. He has written three children's books, been nominated for many awards, holds ten honorary degrees, and is a member of the Order of Canada.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Wendy on November 24, 2018

"Born into a magical Cree world in snowy northern Manitoba, Champion and Ooneemeetoo Okimasis are all too soon torn from their family and thrust into the hostile world of a Catholic residential school. Their language is forbidden, their names are changed to Jeremiah and Gabriel, and both boys are ab......more

Goodreads review by Martha☀ on July 06, 2018

The Fur Queen in this novel is the spirit who links humans to the spirit world. She can be a trickster, a lesson, a warning. She visits when things are dire and can lead you to decisions which will strongly impact your future, for good or for evil. Following the lives of Champion and Ooneemeetoo Okim......more

Goodreads review by Megan on June 01, 2015

Different books bring different pleasures. Sometimes it's the plot, tense and urgent and carrying me along. Sometimes it's characters, people I come to love and want to see what happens to, and who make it hurt when bad things come. Most rarely of all, I think, it's the writing itself, the kind of w......more

Goodreads review by Lollita on July 18, 2021

The writting style was kind of weird, disjointed and chaotic reminded me of salman rushdie. The plot it self was sad and pretty much inline with what youd expect with residential school survivors so nothing really new but it was good in its way.......more

Goodreads review by RKanimalkingdom on December 23, 2018

2.5-3 I honestly can't decide where I would place this book. The premise was so amazing and the level of depth Highway puts into the books is magnificent. I get the feeling that I would have enjoyed this book more if I was able to take my time to read it and not rush through it. The entire story is o......more

Quotes

"Tomson Highway's prose is beautiful, lyrical. . . . Emotionally complex, witty, symphonic and sad, Kiss of the Fur Queen is a remarkable novel, filled with blood and guts, life and love."
—The Vancouver Sun

"Kiss of the Fur Queen is a novel of affirmation . . . a book full of feeling for the North [that] displays startling human insight. . . . A novel that dances with life."
—The Globe and Mail

"Highway's depiction of the brothers' trapline births are among the most haunting and evocative pieces of writing to ever appear in Canadian literature. The playful yet hallowed tone of these early passages is pure magic. . . . The novel remains, at its core, a celebration of survival and of life lived."
—Quill & Quire

"In a book that is both hard-hitting and whimsical, [Tomson Highway] offers a soulful look into the often transient nature of identity."
—National Post

"Tomson Highway's first novel is made poignant by its passion and pain, but it is rendered charming and magical by a title character conjured up as a fatal beauty. . . . An affecting tale [of] fine satiric sense and linguistic play."
—Toronto Star

"Kiss of the Fur Queen is, above all, a deeply personal statement. . . . The writing is superb in this book. . . . Reading [Highway's] prose often gives one the feeling of looking through a spiritual veil. . . . A born story-teller and entertainer."
—The Star Phoenix

"[Kiss of the Fur Queen] pulses with life and humour and manages to meld the conventional English novel format with free-flowing fantastical native stories to create a new art form—a sort of Salinger on snowshoes. . . . [Highway has] a way of making words sound like music."
—Times Colonist

Awards

  • Canadian Booksellers Association Libris Award - Fiction Book of the Year
  • Chapters/Books in Canada First Novel Award
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