Gwen Benaway on why you should read The Break by Katherena Vermette
Jane van Koeverden | CBC | Posted: June 12, 2017 12:33 PM | Last Updated: July 10, 2017
June is Indigenous Book Club Month. Every day in June, CBC Books published a recommendation from an Indigenous writer for a book by another Indigenous author.
Gwen Benaway recommends The Break by Katherena Vermette.
"The Break is a beautiful and rare work of fiction. It explores the legacy of inter-generational violence in the lives of Indigenous women in Winnipeg. The bonds of love, community and resilience between these Indigenous women are powerful and real. Instead of centering male voices or focusing just on the violence, The Break manages to accomplish the extraordinary task of revealing the profound strength and courage of Indigenous womanhood. There is no other piece of Indigenous writing, which achieves this as fully as Vermette's healing first novel, so read it and be enriched by her articulate and loving voice."
Gwen Benaway is a Métis poet and author of the collection Passage. Katherena Vermette was the editor of her book.