Nonfiction author Myrna Kostash merges the past and the present in The Frog Lake Reader, which offers a multi-layered perspective on the tragic events surrounding the Frog Lake Massacre of 1885. By bringing together eyewitness accounts and journal excerpts, memoirs and contemporary fiction, and excerpts from interivews with historians, Kostash provides a panoramic view of a tragedy often overshadowed by Louis Riel's rebellion of the same year.
The history is contentious and its interpretation unresolved, but The Frog Lake Reader, with its broad survey of vital historical accounts and points of view, offers the most comprehensive and informative narrative on the Frog Lake Massacre to date.
Praise for The Frog Lake Reader
"It's brilliant reading. Kostash's decision to include all of these voices and versions creates a compelling human drama out of long-dead events.... Kostash hits the perfect pitch between the events that constitute history and the voices that shape it."
~ Jay Smith, Alberta Views
"The narrative form is fresh, creative and culturally sensitive. Acknowledging that she is but one voice among many, Kostash gives space to perspectives of the past alongside historians of today. By framing The Frog Lake Reader in this fashion she also acknowledges the importance of the oral tradition in First Nations and Metis cultures. By collapsing time, Kostash helps us to realize how these past events still shape our present."
~ Diana Davidson, Edmonton Journal
