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Back Track
*Shortlisted for two 2006 Anskohk Aboriginal Literature Awards: Book of the Year and Fiction
*Shortlisted for two 2006 Saskatchewan Book Awards: Book of the Year and First Peoples' Publishing
*Longlisted for the 2006 ReLit Award for Fiction
Against a backdrop of traditional Cree mythology, Johnson's novel creates a tangled murder chronicle and harrowing tale of four Cree brothers bound to each other through family and tradition, separated from each other by their chosen life paths.
As one brother kills, another reinforces the principle of a circle of life, as one capitulates to weakness, another conquers his demons. Driving the action is a manhunt for the killer of conservation officers; but at the heart of the story there is reparation through cultural wisdom and the restoration of traditional beliefs.
Authentic and well-paced, Back Track crosscuts through the cultural ruts, economic conventions, and stereotypes of Cree families living in northern Saskatchewan.
*Shortlisted for two 2006 Saskatchewan Book Awards: Book of the Year and First Peoples' Publishing
*Longlisted for the 2006 ReLit Award for Fiction
Against a backdrop of traditional Cree mythology, Johnson's novel creates a tangled murder chronicle and harrowing tale of four Cree brothers bound to each other through family and tradition, separated from each other by their chosen life paths.
As one brother kills, another reinforces the principle of a circle of life, as one capitulates to weakness, another conquers his demons. Driving the action is a manhunt for the killer of conservation officers; but at the heart of the story there is reparation through cultural wisdom and the restoration of traditional beliefs.
Authentic and well-paced, Back Track crosscuts through the cultural ruts, economic conventions, and stereotypes of Cree families living in northern Saskatchewan.
208 pages, Paperback
First published September 1, 2005
27 people want to read
About the author
Harold R. Johnson
15 books85 followersBorn and raised in Northern Saskatchewan, Harold Johnson has a Master of Law degree from Harvard University. He has served in the Canadian Navy, and worked in mining and logging. Johnson is the author of five novels and one work of non-fiction, which are largely set in northern Saskatchewan against a background of traditional Cree mythology. The Cast Stone (2011) won the Saskatchewan Book Award for Fiction.
Johnson practiced law as a Crown Prosecutor in La Ronge, Saskatchewan, and balanced that with operating his family's traditional trap line using a dog team.
Johnson died in early February, 2022.
Johnson practiced law as a Crown Prosecutor in La Ronge, Saskatchewan, and balanced that with operating his family's traditional trap line using a dog team.
Johnson died in early February, 2022.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
December 1, 2023
yeah idk
February 6, 2022
Painful and powerful story of four brothers caught between two completely different approaches to life. A little bit too mystic for me here and there but I could get vested enough to get close to understanding. The overall feeling for me at the end of the story was sadness that we can't seem to just get on with better dialogue between all of us that share this country.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews