Why We Should Read: All the Quiet Places

Submitted by David & Ranji, on behalf of the WBFC

Although he has been writing all his life, Brian Thomas Isaac did not publish his debut novel until he was seventy-one. This book, All the Quiet Places, has gathered a lot of attention, including being chosen as a finalist for the 2022 Governor General’s Literary Award (results of which were announced after the deadline for this column).

Isaac draws on his experiences growing up on the Okanagan reserve in the southern interior of BC in this coming-of-age story of Eddie, a young Indigenous boy trying to cope with the impact colonialism has left on his family. Living on the edge of the reserve and sent to a white school by his mother who wants to prepare him for life in the outside world, Eddie strives to stay connected to his culture. Fishing in the river and gathering nuts with his grandmother while being bullied as an outsider at school, Eddie struggles to find his place in the world. There are some truly beautiful descriptions of the natural world surrounding Eddie – storms, swelling rivers near flood level, and one of the last bands of wild horses. These passages come as a balm in what is otherwise a bleak and hard-hitting book. Eddie faces violence and racism throughout, from adults in his family who bear their own scars and from settlers he meets off reserve. Given the intensity of what happens to Eddie, this book would not be recommended for young teens unless a conscious effort is made to give them support in discussing and processing what they read.

The book has some of the issues of a first novel, the timeline seems confused in places and there are sections which could have been better edited. That being said, it is clear from the beginning that Isaac is telling a story close to his heart.

The Warmland Book & Film Collective – a response to the Calls to Action of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada – next

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