Book club gets second helping of Rice

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This article was published 12/04/2024 (889 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Free Press and McNally Robinson Booksellers are pleased to welcome Anishinaabe author Waubgeshig Rice back to the Free Press Book Club on Tuesday, April 30 at 7 p.m. for a virtual discussion about his latest novel, Moon of the Turning Leaves.

Rice, who splits his time between Wasauksing First Nation and Sudbury, Ont., first visited the book club in January 2022 to talk about his 2018 novel Moon of the Crusted Snow. In that book, set in the fictional Gaawaandagkoong First Nation in northern Ontario, a mysterious blackout causes turbulence in the community and beyond, and sees the arrival of uninvited guests.

Moon of the Turning Leaves, published in October 2023, picks up 12 years after the events of Snow, but can easily be read as a standalone novel. Evan Redsky, the main character of Snow, has led a group of townspeople into the bush, establishing a new community that lives more traditionally. But as resources begin to dwindle, Evan and five others must venture south to determine whether the community could move back to their traditional territory on the shores of Lake Huron. In their travels, the six — including Evan’s daughter Nangohns, the primary character in Leaves — discover just how much the world has changed and the dangers it now poses.

In her review of Moon of the Turning Leaves for the Free Press, Kathryne Cardwell noted “Rice’s storytelling is at its peak… his prose is lovely and descriptive but readable, showing his journalistic roots. The story is also beautifully paced, balancing foreshadowed events with plot twists and surprises,” adding “Rice’s story runs far deeper than a simple post-apocalyptic novel. Moon is also an allegorical examination of ongoing colonization and the destruction of nature versus the rebirth of Indigenous culture and the renewal of Mother Earth.”

For the Free Press Book Club’s virtual meeting on Tuesday, April 30, Rice will be joined by Free Press literary editor Ben Sigurdson and Angela Torgerson of McNally Robinson Booksellers. Rice will read from Moon of the Turning Leaves, discuss the book’s themes and field questions from viewers and readers.

The Free Press Book Club is free to join at any time — simply visit wfp.to/bookclub and register your email address to receive updates and information about current and future books and meetings. Replays of all previous meetings are accessible on the Free Press YouTube channel.

Copies of Moon of the Turning Leaves are available at McNally Robinson Booksellers.

Book club members who are Free Press subscribers are also entered to win a monthly prize pack which includes the following month’s book pick and a tote bag.

To send in questions for Waubgeshig Rice about Moon of the Turning Leaves or for more information about the book club, email bookclub@winnipegfreepress.com.