Bone Black

Goldeneagle’s follow-up to Bearskin Diary is a haunting revenge tale. Wren Strongeagle, a pregnant ceramist in Saskatchewan’s Qu’Appelle Valley, anticipates a visit from her twin sister, Raven, a lawyer in Calgary currently working on the case of a missing Blackfeet girl. During Raven’s visit, the sisters discuss the pervasive problem of missing girls and women from First Nations in Canada. After Wren miscarries her baby, she slips into a depression, sinking deeper with memories of the men who’d abused her since childhood. Raven suggests they go to a bar celebrating “redneck day” for some mindless fun and, that night, Raven disappears, last seen on the way out the door with a man they’d just met. Wren grows angry at the lack of attention shown by the police to her sister’s disappearance, who assume Raven ran off with a new love interest, while Wren’s husband fails to comfort her amid his frequent business trips. With no progress on the case and no word from Raven, Wren’s anger turns to homicidal rage. In a dramatic and convincing turn halfway through, Wren begins to stalk and murder men who abused her and others, beginning with a former college classmate who’d raped her. Goldeneagle’s powerful tale will stay with readers. (May)