A fiddle and an apple tree. Tunnels under a prairie, filling with rain. A woman who blurs into a purple finch. Michelle Porter’s A Grandmother Begins the Story (9 hours) is most alluring in its details, as Porter pieces together the stories of five generations of Métis women. Porter creates unique individuals in Carter, Allie, Lucie, Genevieve and Mamé, while situating them in the bittersweet history of the Métis people and their homeland.
This full cast audiobook is an utter delight: lively, gritty and sensitive. Although the rapid switches between points of view can be a little confusing, especially given that there are distinct narrators for not only the women but also the grassland, the buffalo and the dogs, listeners who patiently familiarize themselves with each voice will be rewarded. A Grandmother Begins the Story is a rich study of the ties that bind a family, how they stretch, how they shrink and how they withstand the test of time.
Read our review of the print edition of A Grandmother Begins the Story.
