This House Is Not a Home

*Thank you to NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review!*

Everything about this book took my heart, ripped it to shreds, and somehow managed to put it back together again after so much heartache. I knew what I was getting myself into from the description, but this exceeded all of my expectations, and I wound up reading the whole book in one sitting. Before I go any further, I should mention that I am indigenous too, Potawatomi and Ojibwe, so I tried really hard to read it objectively, but it spoke to my soul and endeared it to me in a way that most books do not.

Told from a 3rd person omniscient POV, we follow Kǫ̀, a Dene man, through his life, from growing up solely on the land with the ways of his people in his culture to being taken from his family and forced into residential school, and everything that comes after with further forced assimilation and settlers on the land he grew up in. Not only does this novel show what happens to him in an external sense, like the changing of his life and everything he has ever known prior to boarding school, in an internal sense and how that has an impact on his psyche, and even his family.

Every indigenous person knows the history, no matter what tribe, it is essentially all the same. That is the hard thing about this book because you know where it's going and you feel that ache deep down in your heart because you cannot stop it. That's not to say it is not fresh and invigorating, because it is, only that one knows what is to come because of where we are today. What I also loved about this is the way the use of language is utilized, because prior to his time in boarding school, the dialogue is in the native language (though the author does a good job of explaining what was said in dialogue tags/following sentences) and during different moments in his life, there becomes a mix, to becoming predominantly English. It really shows the reader, in real-time, what he was experiencing and the struggle of having your native language taken from you, then having to relearn it.

I also love that the novel also does not focus predominantly on Kǫ̀ as it also includes other members of his family and the different ways they face what has happened to them. Everyone faces things differently and as we move into newer generations in his lineage, we see the adaptation they experience that comes far easier than it does for Kǫ̀ who remembers life before such changes. It really opens up the multiple realities of colonization, assimilation, and boarding schools, because it continued culturally long after it happened in a ripple effect, and this novel highlights that wonderfully.

I believe this is a novel that non-indigenous people can read before going into memoirs/non-fiction novels to learn the history. Even if it is a piece of fiction, I would say it is quite accurate and paints a vivid picture of history. For indigenous people, I think this novel would be a hard one to face, as it is definitely heart-wrenching to have the history shared in a way that lets you visualize it while getting attached to the characters, because in truth, they really are real-life people, as mentioned how it is inspired by a family the author knows of.

Overall, I love this book and will be recommending it highly to everyone.

Content warnings: animal deaths, blood, hunting, injured animals, death, hypothermia, miscarriage, mother forcibly removed from home, bullying, racism, assault, destroyed habitats, concussions, drugs, gambling, poisoning, murder, car crash, gangs, drug dealing, cancer, suicide, incarceration, Residential school: stolen children, cutting hair, stripping of name, abuse, forced assimilation, brainwashing, refusal to eat, choking, force-feeding, unmarked graves, illness, colonization, displacement, alcoholism.

An absolutely beautiful, heartwrenching story, This House Is Not A Home is sure to be one of the best books of 2022. Fair warning, this is not a story that will make you feel good, but it is definitely a story everyone with a beating heart should read because it tells the story of how settlers have invaded the sacred lands of the Indigenous people, and how despite the pain, suffering, and loss, they still continue to thrive with dignity and resilience.

This House is Not a Home is a visceral, searing look at the impact of the "Christian' indoctrination forced on the native peoples of northern Canada. Kǫ̀ is a Dene boy when we meet him. He lives with his parents in a completely subsistence life. They are in complete partnership with the land, and they are very happy. Shortly after Kǫ̀ goes on a dangerous solo journey with his sled team, missionaries arrive and rip all of the children away from the Dene people.

Kǫ̀ and the others are sent to boarding schools where they are 'Christianized,' beaten, starved, humiliated, and completely cut off from their families. In all those years, he makes one friend, Ts'l, who will eventually become his wife. Without warning he is returned to his 'home' which is now a mining town. No longer speaking his native languag,e and with the landscape so changed, he struggles to find his home but finally does, discovering that his father is gone and his mother is struggling to make ends meet living in a money-based white world.

The book follows Kǫ̀ as he grows into a man and starts his own family. When they return from a hunting trip to find their home completely gone, they are forced to move into a government house, which Kǫ̀ hates. His wife is soon struggling with one addition as his brother struggles with another. As his life becomes more and more subsumed by the white, capitalist life, Kǫ̀'s heart and soul suffer deeply. There is a happy ending of sorts, but there is no escaping the horror and the sadness of this family and the Dene people.

This book is an absolute must-read, and my strong suggestion is that everyone, including high school students, should read it. It was heart-breaking, eye-opening, and so very, very important to read. This House is Not a Home is the best book I have read this year.