Set in Canada and the battlefields of France and Belgium, Three-Day
Road is a mesmerizing novel told through the eyes of Niska--a Canadian
Oji-Cree woman living off the land who is the last of a line of healers
and diviners--and her nephew Xavier.
At the urging of his friend Elijah, a Cree boy raised in reserve
schools, Xavier joins the war effort. Shipped off to Europe when they
are nineteen, the boys are marginalized from the Canadian soldiers not
only by their native appearance but also by the fine marksmanship that
years of hunting in the bush has taught them. Both become snipers
renowned for their uncanny accuracy. But while Xavier struggles to
understand the purpose of the war and to come to terms with his
conscience for the many lives he has ended, Elijah becomes obsessed with
killing, taking great risks to become the most accomplished sniper in
the army. Eventually the harrowing and bloody truth of war takes its
toll on the two friends in different, profound ways. Intertwined with
this account is the story of Niska, who herself has borne witness to a
lifetime of death--the death of her people.
In part inspired by the legend of Francis Pegahmagabow, the great Indian
sniper of World War I, Three-Day Road is an impeccably researched
and beautifully written story that offers a searing reminder about the
cost of war.
