Sisters of Grass

In her vibrant first novel, Sisters of Grass, Theresa Kishkan weaves a tapestry of the senses through the touchstones of a young woman’s life. Anna is preparing an exhibit of textiles reflecting life in central British Columbia a century ago. In a forgotten corner of a museum, she discovers a dusty cardboard box containing the century-old personal effects of a Nicola valley woman. Fascinated by the artifacts, she reconstructs the story of their owner, Margaret Stuart. Margaret, the daughter of a Native mother and a Scottish-American father, she tries to fit into both worlds. She’s taught photography by a visiting Columbia University anthropology student that she falls in love with.

With strong, poetic language, Kishkan makes the past reverberate through the present in a richly patterned work celebrating the complexities and joys of life and the sustaining connections of family.

AUTHOR

Theresa Kishkan

Theresa Kishkan is an accomplished author of nine books of poetry and prose. Her work has appeared in numerous anthologies and literary journals such as Geist, BC Bookworld, Brick, The Canadian Forum, Fiddlehead, The Malahat Review and Quill and Quire. A mother of three children, she now makes her home on the Sechelt Peninsula with her husband, John Pass. Please visit Theresa online at theresakishkan.com

Reviews

Letters, photographs, a program from a concert by Madame Albani, a buckskin jacket, clippings about the Bill Miner gang — mementos found by a museum curator organizing a display about central British Columbia a century ago. Infused with the spirit clinging to these personal treasures, Anna reconstructs the life of their owner, Margaret Stuart.

On the cusp of womanhood, Margaret is drawn by opposites: the Nicola Valley ranchland, the horses, and her native grandmother’s traditions on one side, the luxuries sent by her American relatives an the new art of photography on the other. Anna’s and Margaret’s lives entwine, the past reverberates through the present, and their shared rituals and turning points create a universal pattern of beauty.

“A novel of change and reconciliation, of the confluence of many worlds … a tremendous accomplishment. … An astonishing debut … Sisters of Grass is beautifully understated with a quiet grace that succeeds in transforming the regional to the universal, filling the reader with a sense of the mysteries of the world and humanity that can never fully be resolved.”
– Quill & Quire (starred review)

“Each page is suffused with the fragrance and visual delights of the west … a natural, lyrical exploration of the senses, with the author’s poetic roots evident in every passage.”
– Pottersfield Portfolio

“Margaret’s life begins to unfold for us — a life steeped in hard work and earthly beauty and gathering toward a promising future … her story building at last to a strong and unsentimental climax … Ends with a bittersweet narrative punch.”
– Globe and Mail

“The archival impetus and historical details of Kishkan’s first full-length fiction are appealing … she can write beautifully about objects and places.”
– Geist

“Nature is an exotic ingredient in this delightful imagined account of a young girl’s awakening to womanhood a hundred years ago. Theresa Kishkan’s prose is lyrical and exquisite. A book to treasure.”