Excerpt from Review: "...Though I felt the story of Greg and Brenda was a tad bit rushed, I appreciated all the author was trying to convey to his readers. I also appreciated the inclusion of actual case studies regarding Canada’s treatment of the Indigenous people. While the fictional tale is historically correct, it is also a more enticing read and a better way of teaching to a broader audience. The case studies at the end are a drier read and would appeal to only a serious history buff like myself. Including both helps the reader draw parallels between the fiction and fact and realize that there is more truth to Bartleman’s story than meets the eye. A job well done!"

Bartleman sets up his plot well- and the characters are well done- but note that a large section of this book comprises Canadian government documents about the forced removal of First Nations children and residential schools. While this is informative and useful, it wasn't what I was expecting. The stories of Brenda and Greg merited more exploration. Thanks to the publisher for the ARC. Try this one for an educational experience.

In 1972, the Government of Ontario sent a float plane equipped with five bassinets to the Yellow Dog Indian Reserve. Aboard the flight were the resident Indian agent, a constable, a nurse and a social worker from the Toronto branch of the Children's Aid Society. Filling their "morning quota", they "scooped up" five Indigenous babies including a set of twins. The parents were read prepared statements declaring them to be unfit parents. Their babies were put up for adoption especially to white parents who would not be told of the child's Indigenous ancestry. All birth records would be expunged and death certificates issued to wipe out any record of Indian heritage.

Brenda was adopted and raised by a non-Indigenous couple. In ninth grade, Brenda was told of her adoption. When she informed several classmates, Chippewas who lived at a nearby reserve, they did not believe she was of Indian heritage while her so called non-Indian friends shouted racial slurs.

Greg Chambers was a scholar/athlete raised in a middle class family. Larry Chambers, Greg's dad, was a police detective who often beat up prisoners when making arrests. Greg was slapped around by his dad for the slightest infraction. Larry's rationale was that lots of men beat their wives and kids. The summer before college, Greg secured a job at the Calvin Mine in Northeastern Manitoba. Hubert Leduc, a Metis, brought Greg with him to the "Zoo", a bar where bikers, underage drinkers, workmen, and Indian residential students could blow off steam. It was also the backdrop where girls from residential schools were "disappeared" whether by rape, running away, going home or becoming hookers. Introduced to beer for the first time and given repeated refills, a drunk Greg became embroiled in "disappearing" an Indigenous woman. His entire life had now changed. Meeting Brenda, Greg decided the course his life would take. Would his decision be wise? Should he embark upon a different narrative?

"A Matter of Conscience" by James Bartleman was presented in two distinct parts. Bartleman indicated that arguably many readers learn history by reading historical fiction. However, Bartleman's historical fiction read is followed by recommended background readings. The Summary Judgement of the Sixties Scoop Class Action Suit is presented with "Canada" as the defendant government. The class period (from 1965-1984) covers the time when thousands of Aboriginal children in Ontario were removed from their homes and placed in non-Aboriginal foster homes or adopted by non-Aboriginal parents. Other key documents include recommendations of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. The effects of marginalization and assimilation caused undue harm, the loss of cultural identity and the fracturing of Indigenous family life. This tome is a necessary must read. I applaud Bartleman for bringing this novel and factual documentation to the forefront.

Thank you Dundurn, A.J. Patrick Boyer Books and Net Galley for the opportunity to read and review "A Matter of Conscience".

I don't know when it began, when I decided that I needed to know more about Canadian history, and the First Nations people. I will blame it on my daughter, who went to university at Emily Carr, in Vancouver. I could blame it on the fact that the first person she made friends with was a First Nations young man, who was very kind to her. Or I could blame it on discovering that I could listen to The National every night, streaming live, and learn all of the things that were going on in the Great White North, and thus have subjects I could talk to my daughter about when she called, other than her, which she would get tired of.

And it was in listening to the CBC, that I learned about the commission on Murdered and Missing Indigenous women. That First Nations women have been going missing for years and years, murdered, raped, and nothing was being done about it. Outrageous stories of prejudice and neglect abound.

So, when I saw this book, I thought that it would be a good way to plunge in, and it was. The book is a fictionalized story of what happens to the children of the "60's Scoop", where children were taken from their Indigenous parents and given to White families to raise. It also tells of the attitude of White people to Indigenous people, and of course, the abuse and murder of Indigenous women.

The basic story follow Greg, who pretends to be Metis, and Brenda, a child of the 60's Scoop, who is adapted by white parents, and wants to find her bio family and reconnect with them. Greg is not a good person, as he has helped with the murder of an Indigenous woman, and kept it quiet.

It is a curious book, and wanders around the lives of Brenda and Greg, pushing us towards the conclusion. The second half of the book is information on all the things that the first half, the story, is based on, such as the commission on Residency Schools.

There is a lot to take in. It is not an easy book to digest, but books such as these never are. Well written, dry in parts, but very realistic, and sad.

Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.

A Matter of Conscience by James Bartleman is a fictional novel, but the fiction part is based on solid hard facts, and any one of these characters could have existed/exists in real life. Bartleman doesn’t beat around the bush with his words, and I’m so very glad he doesn’t. His tale is one of such sadness and cruelty, a tale that isn’t unknown to many Native Americans, whether they reside in Canada or the US. A Matter of Conscience isn’t a tale of powwows and dances and warrior legends passed through generations. A Matter of Conscience is the tale of the Sixties Scoop and the forced removal of indigenous children from their parents and homes to be raised in residential schools where they would be submitted to abject cruelty. This is the tale of violence and erasure. This is the tale of the utter hypocrisy of a country who stands strong in the protection of those less fortunate around the world, but treats the natives of their lands as subhuman. This is one of the tales that should be taught in our schools. Not the whitewashed, sugarcoated “facts” that are currently taught.

A Matter of Conscience is a short novel that is narrated in a pretty dry, matter of fact pattern. There are areas that I found a bit lacking in information, or a little too simple in plot, but it all ties in nicely at the end. You may find certain areas hard to believe, but push that thought right out of your mind. At the end of the narrative you will find factual documents that back up any of the events in the novel itself. While A Matter of Conscience isn’t really written in a style that I would normally choose to read it’s a brilliant way to bring attention to horrific laws and doings that were created and/or tolerated by the Canadian government right up into the 1990’s, and even still today. Residential schools and the Sixties Scoop may be over, but the Highway of Tears murders and disappearances still haven’t been solved.

I loved how half of the book is a story strongly based on facts and evidence, while the other half is factual documents. It provides a lot of context and also food for a lot of thought. This is what happened, and the fact that part of it is fiction makes it all the more easier to absorb and think about. I hope others will read A Matter of Conscience and talk about it with their friends and families.

A Matter of Conscience will be published by Dundurn on June 5, 2018. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the advance copy!