Four chronically homeless people-Amelia One Sky, Timber, Double Dick and
Digger-seek refuge in a warm movie theatre when a severe Arctic Front
descends on the city. During what is supposed to be a one-time event,
this temporary refuge transfixes them. They fall in love with this new
world, and once the weather clears, continue their trips to the cinema.
On one of these outings they meet Granite, a jaded and lonely journalist
who has turned his back on writing "the same story over and over again"
in favour of the escapist qualities of film, and an unlikely friendship
is struck.
A found cigarette package (contents: some unsmoked cigarettes, three $20
bills, and a lottery ticket) changes the fortune of this struggling set.
The ragged company discovers they have won $13.5 million, but none of
them can claim the money for lack proper identification. Enlisting the
help of Granite, their lives, and fortunes, become forever changed.
Ragged Company is a journey into both the future and the past.
Richard Wagamese deftly explores the nature of the comforts these
friends find in their ideas of "home," as he reconnects them to their
histories.
