Northern Girls
True Stories
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Pub Date Apr 1 2026 | Archive Date Nov 30 2026
Literary Press Group of Canada | Baraka Books
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Description
"What goes on in this house stays in this house." That was the rule when author Michelle Willms was growing up, and she abided out of loyalty--until now. In the care of a single, working mother who uses alcohol to quiet her childhood memories, Michelle and her siblings are often left without a responsible parental figure to care for them, and more often than not find themselves alone or in danger. They learn to appease, negotiate with, or physically fight off the abusive men who track through their home.
Brave, engaging and electric, Northern Girls is a collection of true stories about the fractured legacy of growing up in rural northern Ontario. Exploring themes of generational trauma, parental addictions, and domestic violence, Willms confronts a past replete with both fragility and resilience.
Advance Praise
Northern Girls is one of Indigo's Five Best Canadian Books of 2026 for Ontario
One of CBC’s 50 top nonfiction titles for spring 2026!
“Both heartening and deeply distressing . . . Northern Girls pierces heart and mind . . .. Using effective sensory details, impactful imagery, and metaphorical strategies, Willms describes the breathtaking isolation of the Canadian North alongside the heavier longing of a lonely child attempting to understand and help her mother, accept her father’s disinterest, and rationalize a feeling of generalized desertion.” Natalie Virginia Lang, British Columbia Review
“What a privilege it is to read something so fierce, true, and haunting as Michelle Willms’ Northern Girls: True Stories. . . . Tender, restless, and at times volcanic, rendered through unfeigned poetics and fierce intellect.” India Das-Brown, Montreal Review of Books
“Willms opens with a bang. In the first story, Uncle Normand of the North, she begins, ‘Your mother has brought you up north to see her family and you are allowed to sit in Uncle Normand’s lap because he wasn’t the brother who molested her as a child.’ … This is a text that will haunt you the next time you drive through the ramshackle communities scattered across the Canadian Shield.” — Bob Armstrong, Literary Review of Canada
“Northern Girls is a master class in poetry. It’s the absolute beauty and resonance of the writing—Willms paints imagery of the North that is alive and intense and deeply rooted.” Joanne McDonald, NewsNow
Marketing Plan
Reviews across Canada
Participation in Festivals
Interviews
Massive social media promotion
Very active in Ontario
Reviews across Canada
Participation in Festivals
Interviews
Massive social media promotion
Very active in Ontario
Available Editions
| EDITION | Paperback |
| ISBN | 9781771864091 |
| PRICE | CA$21.95 (CAD) |
| PAGES | 120 |