Winter of the Raven

By Janice Kay Johnson

Book Overview

Katharine Hewitt is a missionary's daughter in the storm-battered coastal towns of the Queen Charlotte Islands in the late 1880's. Fluent in the language of the native people, the Haida, and a talented amateur photographer, she is hired by Luke Brennan, a museum ethnologist intent on purchasing high-quality artifacts from the dwindling tribe.Kate hates seeing precious carvings disappear into museums as many Haida adopt Western clothes and the Christian faith, but she detests even more the private collectors who con the Indians out of their most important ritual objects. And Kate has an ulterior motive for working for Luke -- solving her father's murder. Sadly, she suspects the Haida of having killed her father because he brought too many white man's ways to the tribe.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0812524357
• ISBN13: 9780812524352
• Release Date: January 2000
• Publisher: Tom Doherty Assoc Llc
• Length: 420 Pages
• Weight: 0.53 lbs.
• Dimensions: 7.0" x 1.3" x 4.3"

Customer Reviews

Something for everyone

This book has it all, an intriguing mystery, a satsifying romance, and well-researched and accurate historical detail. A must-read for anyone who enjoys a well-written book.

From These Islands

I am one of two surviving members of a pioneer family, the Carmichaels, that are still living on the Queen Charlotte Islands. My grandparents were the first white people married at Sandspit just after the turn of the century. My mother, aunts and uncles were born at Aliford Bay. Both these places are on South Morseby Island, part of the Queen Charlotte Archipelago. Today, I live on Graham Island. It was with great interest that I read Janice Kay Johnson's book, Winter of the Raven. Her capture of the sense of these islands parallels well with stories that I grew up with as a child that were about Haida peoples and the early settlers of these islands. Her recall of history is extraordinarily accurate. Also, her geographical observations are near perfect. Mixed with the fiction in this book it is an excellent read, one that I highly recommend to anyone intersted in the Queen Charlotte Islands, the Haida peoples and the history of both.It has been a very long time since I have read a book that I didn't want to see come to an end!To Ms Johnson: I hope that there are more wonderful books to come from you in the future! You are a superb writer!