Audiobooks narrated by Michaela Washburn

"NATIONAL BESTSELLER "The Circle is a polyphonic masterpiece." -Erika T. Wurth, author of White Horse From the award-winning and #1 bestselling author of The Break and The Strangers comes a poignant and unwavering epic told from a constellation of Métis voices that consider the fallout when the person who connects them all goes missing The concept was simple. You sit a bunch of people in a circle-everyone who hurt, everyone who got hurt, all affected-and let them share. Some people, it helped them heal, for sure. Others went in angry and left a different kind of angry. Learned how the blame belonged on the system, the history, the colonizer, the big things that were harder to change than one bad person. The day that Cedar Sage Stranger has been both dreading and longing for has finally come: her sister Phoenix is getting out of prison. The effect of Phoenix's release cascades through the community. M, the young girl whom she assaulted, is triggered by the news. Her mother, Paulina, is worried and her cousin is angry-all feel the threat of Phoenix's release. When Phoenix is seen lingering outside the school to catch a glimpse of her son, Sparrow, the police get a call to file a report-but the next thing they know, she has disappeared. Amid accusations and plots for revenge, past grievances become a poor guide in a moment of danger, and the clumsy armature of law enforcement is no match for the community. Cedar and her and Phoenix's mother, Elsie, continue down different paths of healing, while everyone in their lives form a circle around the chaos, the calm within the storm, and the beauty in the darkness. Fierce, heartbreaking, and profound, Vermette's The Circle is the third and final companion novel to her bestsellers The Break and The Strangers. Told from various perspectives, with an unforgettable voice for each chapter, the novel is masterfully structured as a Restorative Justice Circle where all gather-both the victimized and the accused-to take account of a crime that has altered the course of their lives. It considers what it means to be abandoned by the very systems that claim to offer support, how it feels to gain a sense of belonging, and the unanticipated cost of protecting those you love most."

Katherena Vermette (Author), Michaela Washburn (Narrator)

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Voices from Hudson Bay: Cree Stories from York Factory, Second Edition

"In Voices from Hudson Bay Cree elders recall the daily lives and experiences of the men and women who lived and worked at the Hudson’s Bay Company post at York Factory in Manitoba. Their stories, their memories of family, community, and daily life, define their past and provide insights into a way of life that has largely disappeared in northern Canada. The era the elders describe, from the end of World War I to the closing of York Factory in 1957, saw dramatic changes – both positive and negative – to Indigenous life in the North. The extension of Treaty 5 in 1910 to include members of the York Factory band, the arrival of police and government agents, and the shifting economy of the fur trade are all discussed. Despite these upheavals, the elders’ accounts demonstrate the continuity of northern life in the twentieth century, from the persistence of traditional ways to the ongoing role of community and kinship ties. Perceptions of Cree life have been shaped largely by non-Native accounts that offered limited views of Indigenous history and recorded little beyond the social and economic interaction that was part of life in the fur trade. The stories in this collection provide Cree perspectives on northern life and history, and represent a legacy bequeathed to a younger generation of Indigenous people. This second edition includes updates to the original text and a new preface."

Mcgill-Queen’s University Press (Author), Michaela Washburn (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Strangers

"#1 NATIONAL BESTSELLER WINNER OF THE ATWOOD GIBSON WRITERS' TRUST PRIZE FOR FICTION SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2022/2023 FIRST NATION COMMUNITIES READ AWARD, 2022 MANITOBA BOOK AWARDS' CAROL SHIELDS WINNIPEG BOOK AWARD, MARGARET LAURENCE AWARD FOR FICTION, AND MCNALLY ROBINSON BOOK OF THE YEAR AWARD LONGLISTED FOR THE 2021 SCOTIABANK GILLER PRIZE A GLOBE & MAIL BEST BOOK From the bestselling author of The Break comes a staggering intergenerational saga that explores how connected we are, even when we're no longer together-even when we're forced apart. Cedar has nearly forgotten what her family looks like. Phoenix has nearly forgotten what freedom feels like. And Elsie has nearly given up hope. Nearly. After time spent in foster homes, Cedar goes to live with her estranged father. Although she grapples with the pain of being separated from her mother, Elsie, and sister, Phoenix, she's hoping for a new chapter in her life, only to find herself once again in a strange house surrounded by strangers. From a youth detention centre, Phoenix gives birth to a baby she'll never get to raise and tries to forgive herself for all the harm she's caused (while wondering if she even should). Elsie, struggling with addiction and determined to turn her life around, is buoyed by the idea of being reunited with her daughters and strives to be someone they can depend on, unlike her own distant mother. These are the Strangers, each haunted in her own way. Between flickering moments of warmth and support, the women diverge and reconnect, fighting to survive in a fractured system that pretends to offer success but expects them to fail. Facing the distinct blade of racism from those they trusted most, they urge one another to move through the darkness, all the while wondering if they'll ever emerge safely on the other side. A breathtaking companion to her bestselling debut The Break, Vermette's The Strangers brings readers into the dynamic world of the Stranger family, the strength of their bond, the shared pain in their past, and the light that beckons from the horizon. This is a searing exploration of race, class, inherited trauma, and matrilineal bonds that-despite everything-refuse to be broken."

Katherena Vermette (Author), Michaela Washburn (Narrator)

Audiobook

In Search of April Raintree

"Two young sisters are taken from their home and family. Powerless to change their fortunes, they are separated, and each put into different foster homes. Yet over the years, the bond between them grows. As they each make their way in a society that is, at times, indifferent, hostile, and violent, one embraces her Métis identity, while the other tries to leave it behind. In the end, out of tragedy, comes an unexpected legacy of triumph and reclamation. Bespeak Audio Editions brings Canadian voices to the world with audiobook editions of some of the country's greatest works of literature, performed by Canadian actors."

Beatrice Mosionier (Author), Michaela Washburn (Narrator)

Audiobook

I Become a Delight to My Enemies

"Dark, cutting, and coursed through with bright flashes of humour, crystalline imagery, and razor-sharp detail, I Become a Delight to My Enemies is a gut-wrenchingly powerful, breathtakingly beautiful meditation on the violence and shame inflicted on the female body and psyche. An experimental fiction, I Become a Delight to My Enemies uses many different voices and forms to tell the stories of the women who live in an uncanny Town, uncovering their experiences of shame, fear, cruelty, and transcendence. Sara Peters combines poetry and short prose vignettes to create a singular, unflinching portrait of a Town in which the lives of girls and women are shaped by the brutality meted upon them and by their acts of defiance and yearning towards places of safety and belonging. Read by a multi-voice ensemble cast, with original vocal accompaniment, I Become a Delight to My Enemies is a hybrid in form and an awe-inspiring example of the exquisite force of words to shock and move. The 15-person cast includes: Angela Asher Amanda Cordner Tess Degenstein Pearl Harbour Maggie Huculak Pam Hyatt Jani Lauzon Justin Miller Amy Nostbakken Paloma Nuñez Martin Roach Norah Sadava Amelia Sargisson Nicole Stamp Michaela Washburn"

Sara Peters (Author), Amanda Cordner, Amelia Sargisson, Amy Nostbakken, Angela Asher, Jani Lauzon, Justin Miller, Maggie Huculak, Michaela Washburn, Nicole Stamp, Norah Sadava, Paloma Nuñez, Pam Hyatt, Pearl Harbour, Tess Degenstein (Narrator)

Audiobook

Seven Fallen Feathers Indigo: Racism, Death, and Hard Truths in a Northern City

"The groundbreaking and multiple award-winning national bestseller work about systemic racism, education, the failure of the policing and justice systems, and Indigenous rights by Tanya Talaga. Over the span of eleven years, seven Indigenous high school students died in Thunder Bay, Ontario. They were hundreds of kilometres away from their families, forced to leave home because there was no adequate high school on their reserves. Five were found dead in the rivers surrounding Lake Superior, below a sacred Indigenous site. Using a sweeping narrative focusing on the lives of the students, award-winning author Tanya Talaga delves into the history of this northern city that has come to manifest Canada’s long struggle with human rights violations against Indigenous communities."

Tanya Talaga (Author), Michaela Washburn (Narrator)

Audiobook

Audiobooks Narrated by Michaela Washburn

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