Sisters of Grass

By Theresa Kishkan

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.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0864922884
• ISBN13: 9780864922885
• Release Date: May 2000
• Publisher: Goose Lane Editions
• Length: 206 Pages
• Weight: 0.60 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.5" x 8.4"

Customer Reviews

Unique and meaningful

Sisters of Grass is one of the most beautiful books I have read. Kishkan is a master at lyrical writing that brings nature alive. The characters are sympathetic, and the structure of the book is smart. She leaves you wanting more rather than overplay the story. Another fabulous Canadian author. Check out Margaret Laurence too.

A vivid sense of place and time

One of the most difficult of achievements for a novelist is to truly convey the essence of life in another time but Theresa Kishkan's portrayal of life in the frontier country of the Nicola Valley of British Columbia at the turn of the twentieth century rings absolutely true. And anyone who has ever visited the Nicola Valley will smell again the scent of the air, feel the heat on their skin and hear the bird songs, so evocative is her language. A wonderfully accomplished book.