Rawr Reader,
Where has the year gone! I haven't written to you my dear reader in a while. I hope your reading voyages have fared well. Before completing this book I was as many books behind schedule for my 2022 reading goal of 30 as I've read so far this year (7!!). I hoped this would help me catch up and although it hasn't propelled me forward, it has been an excellent story to get me cracking open a book again.
I've been wanting to read a novel by a Native American (Is Native American still correct if they're Canadian?—if not I sincerely apologize. Reach out and I'll amend this review) with a fantasy twist in it. This story had a premise right up my alley.
The synopsis for The Marrow Thieves by Cherie Dimaline is provided by Goodreads:
In a futuristic world ravaged by global warming, people have lost the ability to dream, and the dreamlessness has led to widespread madness. The only people still able to dream are North America's Indigenous people, and it is their marrow that holds the cure for the rest of the world. But getting the marrow, and dreams, means death for the unwilling donors. Driven to flight, a fifteen-year-old and his companions struggle for survival, attempt to reunite with loved ones and take refuge from the "recruiters" who seek them out to bring them to the marrow-stealing "factories."
Reference:
I'm starting to lose sight of this section because as I add books to my To-Read list, I never remember where I learned of them. Safe bet: Goodreads.
Review:
The lands have changed.
Set in the near future, the world is not what it was. Climate change has reforged the communities that have survived the drastic shift since our present, resource-devouring, world economy. One consequence of this shattered world is the people's inability to dream. At least, for the majority of the population.
The narrative follows one individual spared from this haunting nightmare. In fact, only those of Indigenous bloodlines still possess the ability to dream. The Marrow Thieves follows one such individual, Francis aka "Frenchie," who now spends his life on the run from Recruiters: people who have lost the ability to dream and who believe the cure can be found in the Indigenous people's bones.
From Frenchie we meet other survivors, and across the desolate landscape they hope and dream and always, always stay on the move. Because they have survived. They must continue to survive.
One thing I'd like to note is that the speculative elements aren't as prominent as I thought they'd be. It definitely leans more toward dystopia than fantasy. The wilderness has deserted buildings, remnants of the past we in the present day don't think twice about, scarce resources, and leaves the possibility of surviving until the next day as tentative as flipping a coin. We find this a buddying tone from page to page. Not to say it's gloomy clouds, tears shed every day the sun rises, only that you never forget the stakes. Getting caught means your life is over.
And what's second best to having to endure this cruel world if it can't be with your family? Surviving with a found family. I am a huge sucker for this trope and Dimaline's found family in The Marrow Thieves doesn't disappoint. We have our two elders, our four young adults, and four younglings. All strangers, all coming at different points in time. Across the landscape of Canada they try to salvage the cultural nutrients from their toxic plight.
One struggle for me—which was far and few between— was regarding Frenchie's chronological journey. There are time jumps that are apparent only nearing the end of the novel when stated explicitly and often times I had to reread a paragraph to ground myself and discern the accurate passage of time. At the beginning Frenchie is around 16, and even though weeks, months, years pass, he never quite outgrows his youthful mindset. And I don't mean that in a critical way toward the author or judgmental way toward the character, only a reflective one. Frenchie makes big decisions and his internal fears and longing for his family intertwines so well into the narrative, what at once I thought was jarring—a grown man having immature thoughts and behaving like a child—plays well into the trauma he's witnessed. He is in the older bracket of the group, however his old-fashioned concerns and traits mixed with this insecure—at times misguided—bravado, really shapes Frenchie and sets him apart from other young adult protagonists I've read.
Frenchie is a remarkably written character and the spotlight is on him most of the novel, however none of the other characters should be swept aside as being merely secondary. We have our twins: Tree and Zheegwon, who endearlingly share a hat at times in ticks of nervousness; our spark of light Riri, whose position as the youngest of the group doesn't displace her drive and commitment to being considered a responsible, capable member of the tight-knit community; Slopper, whose surface level laziness, fears, and selfish attitudes in truth parallel to present day immaturity in children, a lovely connection that kids are kids no matter the circumstances; Rose, our multi-racial member, whose headstrong nature isn't outweighed by her vulnerable concerns toward her new found family; Chi-Boy, the reticent eldest of the young adult subgroup, whose protective nature is a comforting blanket amongst the dystopian storm; Wab, our brooding member who has suffered unshakeable crimes and yet still shows the capacity to love and nurture and keep moving forward; Minerva, our female eldest whose grandmotherly nature is encapsulated in her wisdom and knowledge; and Miigwans, our male eldest and leader, whose experience and survival skills have enabled the found family to live to another day.
All of them are more than my simple descriptions. They flesh out to such remarkable characters, I wanted to give you a peek into their personalities instead of simply listing them off. One of my favorite parts in the book (around pg. 79) is when Frenchie mentions he and the others asked Miigwans about the "Coming-to" story of one particular member, and Miigwans responded that everyone has to tell their own creation story at their own time. It isn't something to push. It's about respect.
Respect. Duty. Responsibility. Miigwans teaches and instills these moral compasses into the group members during their travels. Even despite the circumstances. Even despite the lack of community; the lack of society. They are more than what is said of them. Their culture, their language, their ancestors. They themselves can survive. They must have the will to survive the harrowing world and all its failures.
The Marrow Thieves is far more character-driven than plot-driven. A does plot exist, and while it accumulates to a climax—or several climaxes which may or may not dip its toes into magical realism, at its heart this is a story of survival. The twist is surviving more than the environment, more than outrunning the Recruiters; it's surviving to maintain your humanity, surviving to keep your heritage alive when the world wants to erase it, surviving to be who you are versus what this broken world wants to mold you to be.
Which comes to my final note. Dream stealing isn't as literal as it sounds. Which both does and does not play into magical realism which I'll expand on further in the spoilers below. Are dreams simply internal and personal? Can dreams be something to be understood and shared with those in your close circle? Or are dreams simply stories? Should we address how different people define dreams? Dimaline does a fantastic job of presenting these questions and interweaving it into the narrative.
These characters aren't perfect. They are tragically beautiful, flawlessly flawed, and a window into ourselves all through an exquisitely-depicted, marginalized lens. None of it would be impressible without the author, whose skill in her prose shines like a light in the dark. In my eyes, I think the story could only be improved by another 50 pages to better expand on certain topics. I'll mention a few in the spoilers below.
I wish there were more Indigenous stories mainstreamed and female-written Indigenous stories circulating bookshelves and reader's hands. I'm only happy I stumbled across this and fell in love with the title. I can't wait to read more from this author.
I give his book 4.5 stars.
Quote:
"I was angry with my friend;
I told my wrath, my wrath did end.
I was angry with my foe:
I told it not, my wrath did grow."
—William Blake, "A Poison Tree"
(I finished watching the Peaky Blinder's final season and this William Blake quote from the first episode gave me chills.)
My Goodreads:
Next To Read:
Fire and Blood by George R.R. Martin
Spoilers:
I do want to address that if Dimaline wanted dream-stealing to be literally about dreams, dreams themselves rarely take a role in the narrative. I was expecting more of them to unfold as they journeyed, more dreams of Frenchie's experiences or others' premonitions of the Recruiters/the future. But aside from the beginning, namely the first half of the novel . . . nada. Did you?
Also I thought we'd see more scenes of Recruiters performing dream-stealing experimentation, like a subject being captured and us being given insight into the procedures and tortures of "dream stealing." This is the technical, scientific side. But what of the fantastical? We were given a taste of it when the Council's inside man in Espanola described Minerva's destructive episode, but it only ever remained a taste. Miigwans in the school, then escaping, then returning to the school to look for Isaac is the only other example we readers get into what the Recruiters are doing once caught—it's all snippets. I know keeping to the borders makes the schools seem more frightening from the group's point-of-view because they don't know what happens in detail, but me the reader wanted more. This reminded me a bit of my previous review of The Memory Police in which (*spoiler*) (*spoiler*) (*spoiler*) we don't get a definitive insight into how the Memory Police operates and who runs it and how they "erase"—which of course ties into its themes on dementia. (*end spoiler*) (*end spoiler*) (*end spoiler*)
My interpretation of dream-stealing means more about holding onto our humanity, holding onto Indigenous cultures and what makes their languages and customs special and worth protecting and preserving. Dreams can be preserving history and heritage. Frenchie's eagerness to hold onto his dreams after all he's lost by pursuing to learn more words from his elders about their ancestral language is heart-warming. He wants more than himself. He wants his culture to survive.
I will address the big plot hole though. If they spent so much time together, why didn't Frenchie learn more words? How come none of the other members tried to learn more? Rose learned a little from Minerva but it was from small talk. Why didn't the elders push to teach their language as equally as they did about surviving? Is it a Native American custom to not be as open about teaching about history? Or is it merely reflective of the dire circumstances of this dystopian world? The only one who pushed to learn more aside from Frenchie was Riri, his adorable, trusty sidekick, and I really think 50 more pages would have been able to answer that appropriately.
(I really just want more out of their story~) ;)
A qualm I had, maybe even another plot hole, was concerning the sense of direction the group made during the narrative. My first issue with it was when the group kept saying they were going north and yet after *years* they never reached the North Pole or the Arctic Ocean. Is "travelling north" more like a True North situation? They go whichever direction they need to survive? The book never details them going south so I assumed they were literally always travelling north?
Another direction hiccup that I couldn't wrap my head around that I don't know is a story error or grammar error or just my personal misreading error, but halfway through the novel in the chapter "The Potential of Change" (around pg. 115) when the group comes across the strangers Travis and Lincoln it's stated they are camped WEST of their own camp. When discussing the options to confront them or avoid them, Miigwans first says they will continue travelling EAST to avoid the strangers, however after three days they make progress and eventually catch up to them. So what happened, did they end up going WEST? Or were the strangers always EAST and it was a typo? It's unclear.
I would be remiss to never discuss the climax no one was present for (around pg. 172). (What a triumphant scene after a stone-skipping, domino fall of captured characters. My heart broke with Riri's death and with both the youngest and eldest's sudden departures from the family, this book was getting uncomfortably dark. But victory! Victory even if no one got to see it!) Minerva's song. Her song, her ancestors, that brought down the Recruiters institutions. I found it very powerful, exponentially so after the sacrifice she'd made to help the others escape. Our elders teach and guide, but they are as pivotal as leaders, as warriors, as healers, and as children. It's the one we overlook who may play the most important role. What a beautiful message along a beautiful story.
Until Next Time,
Nicole Ciel
