Bookseller Nadine Teisberg of Birchbark Books in Minneapolis is recommending the novel “Empire of Wild” by Cherie Dimaline. Teisberg calls the novel an intriguing mystery and a powerful love story, interwoven with Dimaline’s own Georgian Bay Métis culture and traditions.
In “Empire of Wild,” Joan has been searching for her missing husband for almost a year when she finds herself drawn into a revival tent by the voice of a loud, charismatic preacher. There, she recognizes her husband—but he insists that he is a different person entirely. One mystery is solved, but a new one begins.
Also, the story incorporates the traditional Métis story of the Rogarou, which Teisberg says is “like a werewolf but way scarier.”
Fans of young adult books might recognize Dimaline as the author of “The Marrow Thieves,” which was a Read Brave St. Paul book for 2020.
