Beast: a Novel by Richard Van Camp
A Fiction Review by Christina Barber
In the fall of 1986, Halley’s Comet graces the sky with its luminous tale over the Northwest Territories. Rare celestial events like these have long been portents of major and sometimes cataclysmic events. For the residents of Fort Simmer, Halley’s Comet will herald the return of a dark force who threatens to destroy the peaceful town.
Seventeen-year old Lawson Sauren has already faced tremendous loss, through the tragic and mysterious death of his mother by drowning. A medicine woman, she had raised her son in the ways and traditions of the Dogrib peoples. As a direct descendant of Dogrib war chief Edzo, Lawson plays an important role in his community as a keeper of the peace treaty between the Dogrib and the Chipeweyan peoples, peoples who were once at war. What at first seems a slightly antiquated story for Lawson, who finds himself swallowing his pride in the face of the rancorous Cranes family, themselves direct descendants of the Chipeweyan war chief Akaitcho, soon takes on new importance when the Cranes’ son Silver starts trying to find ways to break the treaty. In a Faustian bargain with a creature called ‘The Dead One’, Silver Cranes has sacrificed everything of importance to him and in the process has threatened the existence of peace in the Dene community and beyond. Lawson will find himself in a race to save his friends and his community from the evil spirit that threatens to engulf them all, but with help from friends and family along the way, Lawson will do far more than stand up to the monster.
In Beast, Tłįchǫ Dene author Richard Van Camp takes the reader to the fictional town of Fort Simmer, a place peoples from different cultural traditions call home. Van Camp’s novel features a host of characters, not only Dogrib and Chipewyan, but also Métis and Cree. Beast’s setting is firmly planted in the 80s, complete with a soundtrack, where the phones are still corded, the mix-tape is the ultimate token of friendship, children roam with greater freedom, and the adventures between friends seem both more present and more dangerous. With canny references to Indigenous and Métis languages, practices, and traditions throughout, Van Camp creates an intimacy and shared experience with the reader as Lawson develops a greater connection to the land, and to his elders. Van Camp’s world is one of medicine and magic where the power of relationships and the coming together of traditions trumps the will of the individual who would destroy everything for personal gain.
About the Author
Born in Fort Smith, NWT, bestselling author Richard Van Camp is a member of the Dogrib (Tłįchǫ) Dene Nation. A graduate of the En’owkin Centre’s writing program in Penticton, BC, he completed his BFA in writing at the University of Victoria and received an MFA in creative writing from the University of British Columbia. His work has won many awards and honours, including the Blue Metropolis First Peoples Literary Prize and the title of Storyteller of the Year from the Wordcraft Circle of Native Writers and Storytellers.
About the Reviewer
Christina Barber is a writer, dramaturge, artist, and educator based in Vancouver. Her poetry has appeared in The Whimsical Poet and contributed to the Vancouver City Poems Project.
Book Details
Publisher : Douglas & McIntyre (Oct. 12 2024)
Language : English
Paperback : 312 pages
ISBN-10 : 1771624140
ISBN-13 : 978-1771624145