Monkey Beach

4.5

I had to read the last four pages of this novel two or three times to figure out what actually happened with Jimmy. And because the novel ends on such a mystical note, I'm sort of torn about my verdict on “does this book actually do what it sets out to do?,” since it begins with Jimmy's disappearance.
But: onward. Robinson's writing is lovely. I enjoyed reading the book immensely and finished it in two days on vacation.
Billed as a coming of age story of a Haisla girl, it covers a lot of ground: traditions that are dead or dying, residential schools and the pain they leave behind, AIM and other types of Indigenous activism, violence against Indigenous women by both Indigenous and white men. And all of this takes place in the lives of a “normal” and loving family, with hopes and ambitions for the kids.
The “coming of age” is also a bit of “coming into power” here, because Lisa has a gift. She gets signs from the spirit world, from animals, etc. about disasters to come. She listens to her grandmother's stories in order to make sense of her internal world. Her grandma understands her gift and tells her that her mother has it, too–but mom refuses to acknowledge her own gift or that of her daughter. She had learned young in life that knowing who would be the next person to die was not such an awesome gift to have.
I'm looking forward to discussing this with the book club. I think there is a lot to pull out and look at and put together in interesting ways.

lots of feels

A tale that combines both humour and tragedy, western culture and aboriginal culture, wisdom and foolhardy decisions, Monkey Beach is as beautiful as it is haunting. Told in the perspective of Lisamarie Michelle Hill, a young Haisla First Nations girl, the story unfolds as a coming-of-age adventure fraught with heartbreak and humour in equal parts. Intertwined throughout the story is the tragedy of her brother's disappearance and her journey to look for him at Monkey Beach.


This novel captivated me. I couldn't put it down for long. And though I feel it deserves a five star rating, the interspersed scenes of animal pain and cruelty got to me quite a bit. However, to the novel's credit, I never felt it was gratuitous. It always served a purpose and furthered the story in some way.
The way the story is written makes the spirituality and supernatural elements feel strangely familiar, like I've somehow experienced it myself. Robinson's writing is fantastic and her ability to weave together truth and fiction into a seamless narrative gave the novel a unique verisimilitude.

I rate this a 4 out of 5 on Goodreads and an 8.5 out of 10 on my own scale. This is a truly special book; one that will stay with me for a very long time.