Book Review: Firekeeper's Daughter by Angeline Boulley

Firekeeper's Daughter by Angeline Boulley.

Daunis is 18 years old, her mother a Fontaine, a Michigan family of note, her late father from the Native American Ojibwe reservation. She has a foot in each world but sometimes feels like she belongs to neither. She is a talented hockey player but an injury has forced her onto the sidelines, watching her Ojibwe half-brother, Levi, wow the crowds.

Handsome hockey ace Jamie joins the team, showing an interest in Daunis, and the future looks bright, despite the encroaching meth problem blighting their town of Soult Sainte Marie.

When her close friend is murdered in front of her, Daunis is thrust into the complex and dangerous world of an FBI investigation — drugs, family skeletons and complex relationships weave a tangled web that Daunis is determined to unravel in order to help her community.

There is an overarching theme of abandonment in the book. Daunis was left suddenly fatherless as a child and has been treated badly by her ex, TJ. She reacts badly to the necessary subterfuge involved in the investigation into the murder and there are blurred lines of truth and lies in her developing relationship with Jamie. Knowing where you come from, and what you owe to your people and place is important to Daunis, and Jamie has issues with that.

The Ojibwe community is fascinating. Through Daunis we learn of the beauty and comfort of ancient traditions, medicines and rituals, how the tribe works in relation to roles assigned and handed down through generations. But there are also the catastrophic consequences of colonisation: stolen land, generational abuse, addiction.

Firekeeper's Daughter is a pacy, procedural and exciting young adult thriller; there are many twists and turns and the teenagers at the heart of the plot are smart and strong. It's the psychological themes that sit in this reader's thoughts and Daunis is a wonderful vehicle for the author to explore identity and belonging and confront the massive issues of substance abuse, sexual harm and suicide. A powerful novel most suitable for readers of about 14 years and up.

Louise Ward
Wardini Books