“lost and alone,/wandering./i swill back the pain; it burns and it belches/rage and despair/leaving only a windigo/who cannibalizes himself,” (Thistle, 157, “Windigo”).
Jesse Thistle recounts his journey of recovery from drug-addiction. He remembers his brief time in the foster-care system with his brothers, moving to Ontario with his paternal grandparents, until he finds himself homeless. Through it all Jesse is haunted by the ghost of his father who abandoned him as he finds himself in and out of rehab centre as he tries to find the road to recovery.
I’d heard a lot about From the Ashes and it didn’t disappoint. Thistle’s debut memoir is simply written, he explains the facts of what has happened without really delving into the why of it but the why is there, just on the edges of the story that reader’s will be able to pick up. Thistle gives readers an intimate look at addiction, the difficulty of getting clean, as well as a first-hand perspective of homelessness that will be eye-opening to many. Throughout the memoir, Thistle intersperses the book with poems which I think is where the real strength in his writing lies. There’s so much heart and care in the poems and I loved that he included them while telling his story. I’ll have to make sure to read his poetry collection!
From the Ashes is a wonderful memoir, one that many will relate to and one that will open many reader’s eyes to the truth of addiction and homelessness.
Publication: August 6th 2019
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Pages: 368 pages (Paperback)
Source: Library
Genre: Non-Fiction, Memoir, Poetry
My Rating: ⛤⛤⛤.5
Summary:
From the Ashes is a remarkable memoir about hope and resilience, and a revelatory look into the life of a Métis-Cree man who refused to give up.
Abandoned by his parents as a toddler, Jesse Thistle briefly found himself in the foster-care system with his two brothers, cut off from all they had known. Eventually the children landed in the home of their paternal grandparents, but their tough-love attitudes meant conflicts became commonplace. And the ghost of Jesse’s drug-addicted father haunted the halls of the house and the memories of every family member. Struggling, Jesse succumbed to a self-destructive cycle of drug and alcohol addiction and petty crime, spending more than a decade on and off the streets, often homeless. One day, he finally realized he would die unless he turned his life around.
In this heartwarming and heartbreaking memoir, Jesse Thistle writes honestly and fearlessly about his painful experiences with abuse, uncovering the truth about his parents, and how he found his way back into the circle of his Indigenous culture and family through education.
An eloquent exploration of what it means to live in a world surrounded by prejudice and racism and to be cast adrift, From the Ashes is, in the end, about how love and support can help one find happiness despite the odds.
Sarah O'Connor 