STARLIGHT

STARLIGHT is about an abused woman on the run who finds refuge and then redemption on a farm run by an Indigenous man with wounds of his own. A radiant novel about the redemptive power of love, mercy, and compassion--and the land's ability to heal us.

Frank Starlight has long settled into a quiet life working his remote farm, occasionally venturing into the unbroken country around his property to photograph the wild animals who thrive there. His contemplative
existence comes to an abrupt end with the arrival of Emmy, a woman on the run who has committed a desperate act so she and her child can escape a harrowing life of abuse. Frank takes in Emmy and her
daughter to help them get back on their feet, and, gradually, this accidental family grows into a real one.
But Emmy's violent ex-boyfriend isn't content to just let her go. He wants revenge and is determined to
hunt her down.
Starlight was unfinished at the time of Richard Wagamese's death in March 2017, yet every page radiates
with his masterful storytelling, intense humanism, and insights that are as hard-earned as they are beautiful. With astonishing scenes set in the rugged backcountry of the B.C. Interior, and characters whose scars cut deep even as their journey toward healing and forgiveness lifts us, Starlight is a magnificent last gift to readers from a writer who believed in the power of stories to save us.

Richard Wagamese was Ojibway from the Wabaseemoong First Nation in Ontario. He passed away early last year. A member of the Sturgeon Clan, he was one of Canada's foremost authors and journalists. He was the author of nine novels, one collection of poetry and three memoirs. His most recent novels, Indian Horse (2012) and Medicine Walk (2014) were national bestsellers and published to brilliant reviews. He was awarded the Writer's Trust Matt Cohen Award for a Life in Writing, in 2015. Indian Horse was the People's Choice finalist in the 2013 Canada Reads competition. Richard was also honored with the 2012 National Aboriginal Achievement Award for Media & Communications and the Molson Prize for the Arts in 2013.

Praise:

“Feels less written than painstakingly etched into something more permanent than paper.”
– New York Times on Medicine Walk

“The kind of sure, clear prose that brings to mind the work of the great North American masters; Steinbeck among them. But Wagamese's voice and vision are also completely his own, as is the important and powerful story he has to tell.”
– Jane Urquhart on Medicine Walk

“Richard Wagamese is a born storyteller.”
– Louise Erdrich on Dream Wheels