“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. Their mother?s absence sends a clear message: You can count on each other as siblings for protection and you can count on the family cat for comfort, but you cannot count on me.

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.