Through Black Spruce

Bird Family Trilogy #2

by Joseph Boyden

Will Bird is a legendary Cree bush pilot, now lying in a coma in the hospital in his hometown of Moose Factory, Ontario. His niece Annie Bird, beautiful and self-reliant, has returned from her own perilous journey to sit beside his bed. Broken in different ways, the two take a silent communion in their unspoken kinship, and the story that unfolds is rife with heartbreak, fierce love, ancient blood feuds, mysterious disappearances, plane crashes, murders, and the bonds that hold a family and people, together. As Will and Annie reveal their secrets– the tragic betrayal that cost Will his family; Annie’s desperate search for her missing sister, the famous model Suszanne– a remarkable saga of resilience and destiny takes shape. From the dangerous bush country of Northern Ontario to the drug fuelled glamour of the Manhatten club scene, Joseph Boyden tracks his characters with a keen eye and a rare empathy for the empty places concealed within the heart. Through Black Spruce establishes Boyden as a writer of startling originality and uncommon power.

Genres: Fiction, Canada, Historical Fiction, Indigenous, Book Club, Contemporary, Canadian Literature

359 pages, Hardcover

First published September 9, 2008

About the author

Joseph Boyden is a Canadian novelist and short story writer.

He grew up in Willowdale, North York, Ontario and attended the Jesuit-run Brebeuf College School. Boyden's father Raymond Wilfrid Boyden was a medical officer renowned for his bravery, who was awarded the Distinguished Service Order and was the highest-decorated medical officer of World War II.

Boyden, of Irish, Scottish and Métis heritage, writes about First Nations heritage and culture. Three Day Road, a novel about two Cree soldiers serving in the Canadian military during World War I, is inspired by Ojibwa Francis Pegahmagabow, the legendary First World War sniper. Boyden's second novel, Through Black Spruce follows the story of Will, son of one of the characters in Three Day Road. He has indicated in interviews that the titles are part of a planned trilogy, the third of which is forthcoming.

He studied creative writing at York University and the University of New Orleans, and subsequently taught in the Aboriginal Student Program at Northern College. He divides his time between Louisiana, where he and his wife, Amanda Boyden, are writers in residence, and Northern Ontario.