This character-driven novel comes together like a lush tapestry of voices; five generations of Metis women making their way in the world. The form of this novel perfectly complements the story of these women, all grappling with identity. Their varied narratorial voices even include a bison. This is a novel about stories and storytelling, it’s about intergenerational trauma and family and healing. A unique and powerful book that will stay with me for a long time. Thank you to Algonquin and to Netgalley for the advanced review copy.

4.5/5
I don't know if I can adequately convey just how hauntingly beautiful this book is. This is not a one-and-done kinda book. It is a tale to be read over and over at different times of your life, taking something else from its pages each time.

"A Grandmother Begins the Story follows five generations of women and bison as they reach for the stories that could remake their worlds and rebuild their futures."

With emotional prose, Michelle Porter draws us into the lives of the Goulet Métis women and the spiritual bison. Their longing for connection and forgiveness mingles with their inability to see their worthiness for love. Through their journeys, Porter shows us the hardest person to forgive is often ourselves.

A Grandmother Begins the Story would be perfect for your next book club, and I can't wait to give it a permanent place on my shelves.

Read this if you like:
• Multiple storylines
• Books that make you think
• Indigenous stories

Beautiful book! I love the prose and how this story flowed. One of the best debuts of the year! Can't wait to see what Michelle writes in the future.

Michelle Porter has written a powerful and complicated novel. The Genres for this story are Fiction, Magical Realism, FolkLore, Historical Fiction, and Literary Fiction. The author vividly describes the Metis people, the artistic and musical traditions, the culture and some family traditions. The fantasy world, and the spiritual world of the Metis people is described as well. In this novel, the author describes five generations of Metis women, and struggles. Symbolically this can be seen as a herd of Bison, gradually losing the land to human development, and chemicals in the land. One of the Metis women can identify with the herd of bison, as she tries to cross over to the after life.

This is certainly a unique novel, and animals have the ability to talk and express their emotions. The author describes her dramatic and colorful characters as complicated, complex, dysfunctional, flawed, confused and looking for answers. Please be advised that there are some disturbing elements in this story for sensitive individuals. The discussion of suicide, assisted suicide are mentioned. I found the author’s descriptions of what happened to the Bison, upsetting.

The author does bring up stories about the connection with characters from the afterlife and this life. She also discusses drug abuse, addiction, alcoholism, and negative and toxic behaviors of the characters. This is an intriguing and well-written novel.

This was an interesting collection of stories following 5 women (some who aren't human, such as bison!)

I struggled to get into it with the short snippets and frequent point of view changes. And some of the anecdotal stories felt disconjointed or hyper personal.

However, if you're into prose or vignette writing, this might be for you.

Know that this is non-linear and might seem like a collection of anecdotes narrated by too many characters but stick with it. The women of this family are all coping with challenges- from settling into the afterlife to addiction- and they all have strong voices. There are animals, there is magical realism. And it all comes back to Metis culture and storytelling tradition. If you like me are unfamiliar with this, Porter provides an excellent introduction. Thanks to netgalley for the ARC. A good read.

An intergenerational saga of Metis women and bison struggling against addiction and a changing world.

I didn’t get most of this book.
I liked the chapters that dealt with the Buffalo the best, although it was sad.
The narrative was choppy and fragmented which made it hard to follow.
I really had anticipated this book but it fell short for me.

Thank you to Algonquin Books and NetGalley for my advance electronic copy. My opinions are my own.

Poetic. Lyric. This story starts like a beat you're trying to move to the rhythm of, and then as each voice chimes in you start to hear the overall song. And that's the point--we're all connected, all sharing in this common walk of humanity. This song/story follows women in five generations of the same Native American family, and a descendent of the bison who once roamed free in North America. Each one is searching for connection and for healing from life's hurts--many of which are caused by that same family. The women's relationships with each other are first and foremost. The men count too in this matriarchal world, but it's the threads connecting the women that hold everything together. Each is part of the whole but also an individual--struggling, clever, talented, and fully human.

Triggers: abandonment

The tangled story of several generations of women belonging to the same Métis family, as well as a family of bison (yes, really). We see highs, lows, struggles, and victories, getting to watch all these women overcome obstacles and learn how to open up to love and all its gifts.

I think the structure of this book will be off-putting to readers at first — it is a bit difficult to follow and keep and the characters straight in the beginning, but it definitely does get easier as you continue through it. Pay attention to the titles of the sections, that will help with understanding whose perspective you're reading from. Overall, I enjoyed this story and how connected all of the characters were by the end. I never found myself emotionally invested in the story for some reason, which is a shame, but I still loved reading each woman's story. Gen was my favorite, and I was glad for her bit to end the way it did. Beautifully storytelling!

Thank you to Michelle Porter, Algonquin, and NetGalley for my advance digital copy.

3 1/2 stars
This rating has nothing to do with the quality of writing and originality of the story but with my own inability to follow the writing style. A very unique story of five generations of Metis women told in sometimes one page chapters. The language is beautiful but I found the style to be difficult for me to grasp fully what the book was about. I did enjoy seeing life from a bison's perspective. My thanks to the publisher for the advance copy.

This was a beautiful book. It took me a little longer to get through it because it often captured a feeling so incisively that I needed to pause and process for a while. I especially appreciated all the autonomy and interrelatedness of the various beings. Highly recommend.

I don't usually read books for adults. I am a pk-12 librarian, after all. But I try to make myself try new things as I'm also a steward of 3 little free libraries. So I tried this book and I am so glad that I did! It was complex and beautiful and I loved watching the threads of the story come together. Beautiful.

In the style of vignettes, Metis storyteller Michelle Porter introduces the reader to five generations of Metis women, each offering a unique POV on past trauma and one's attempt to "heal thyself".

Carter, a single mother, wants to embrace her Metis heritage and connect with her birth mother, Allie. Allie, in her own way, wants to make up for lost time and get to know her daughter.

Genevieve, kennels her bewildered dogs and heads to rehab to try and conquer her demons. Through music and jigging, using piano and fiddle, she tries to heal the rift with her long departed sister Velma who inhabits the spirit world.

Dee, a young bison is fenced in with other calves. The wide open spaces, with freedom to roam, would not be part of her upbringing, neither would cars parked on concrete. Dee experiences a blustery, stormy winter as part of the bison community. The young and frail huddle in the center of the pack, for warmth and protection.

Each well defined character, bison included, present a POV, sometimes funny, often heart-wrenching. Tears will be shed. Memories of the past are conveyed by entering the spirit world and allowing music and rhythmic jigging to generate a soothing effect on the present.

"A Grandmother Begins the Story" by Michelle Porter begs to be read and re-read for its beautiful lyrical prose. A wonderful work of Indigenous fiction that is highly recommended.

Thank you Algonquin Books and Net Galley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This admittedly was a bit of a challenge for me to read - I had a little trouble keeping track of all of the various characters, which includes not just several generations of women, but also animals, and even a car. That being said, I do appreciate Michelle Porter’s decision to go all in on her Metis jig-influenced story structure. And once I finally got used to it, I enjoyed not only the rich cast, but the themes of multi-generational trauma, connection, plus the opportunity to glean a little more knowledge of Metis history and culture, of which I know quite little (to put it kindly).

I can definitely see people being turned off by the format - but I would say it’s definitely well worth the effort.