REVIEWs

“Brilliant…One of the most gripping books I’ve read this year”

— Shelagh Rogers

“This book should be in university classrooms and on coffee tables, in book clubs and politicians’ offices. Its clarion call is that our histories – Indigenous and settler – are inextricably intertwined, and that building a more equitable future requires that we look unblinkingly at how past relations shape present realities.”

— Concordia University First Book Prize jury citation, Quebec Writers’ Federation

“Down-to-earth, colloquially vibrant, seamlessly and impressively structured, Valley of the Birdtail welcomes the reader inside the history, realities, emotions of people we have likely never met, and are very happy to know. Sniderman and Sanderson’s unique skill is to involve us, alongside their characters, in a moving, accessible journey, through community conflict, to a non-saccharine dawning of hopeful understanding, a rapprochement.”

— Mavis Prize for Nonfiction jury citation, Quebec Writers’ Federation

“an optimistic Book that celebrates the Human Spirit”

— Literary Review of Canada

“Outstanding . . . a wake-up call and an important contribution to the truth we all need to know before racism can end and reconciliation begin.".”

— Winnipeg Free Press

“Offers gritty, eye-opening details about the history and present-day reality of this country . . . a startling and optimistic way forward.”

— Toronto Star

“The comparative histories of these neighbouring communities paint a stark and compelling picture.”

— Hill Times

“This is a magnificent book. It’s a new history of Canada, as lived in two communities—Rossburn and Waywayseecappo—who shared the same valley but never lived the same reality. I am haunted by what I learned and touched by the hope that these communities can teach us all how to live together in peace and justice. A truly extraordinary achievement: peeling back the layers of the history, searching through the records, but never once losing the characters, the detail, the grit of lives lived. I'm just so impressed.”

— Michael Ignatieff, author of On Consolation: Finding Solace in Dark Times

“Meticulously researched and written with compassion, Valley of the Birdtail draws two parallel lines hopelessly distant, and then shows us a pathway through which they can come together. It’s a work of trauma, of broken relationships, of how we perceive one another, but ultimately, it’s a story of possibility and healing.”

— David A. Robertson, author of Black Water: Family, Legacy, and Blood Memory

“This is a remarkable book, combining wonderful stories with historical, legal, and political analysis on a subject that is critical to our future in Canada and around the world.”

— Bob Rae, Canada’s Ambassador to the United Nations

“A truly essential book. It's deeply researched and carefully constructed so that you come to love and respect each of the real life characters, on both sides of the racial divide, and see the invisible hands at work in their successes and failures . . . and your own.”

— Jody Porter, award-winning journalist

“should be read and owned by anyone who wants to learn how law can be a force for good or bad.”

— NY Supreme Court Justice Gerald Lebovits & Jessica Wisniewski, New York Law Journal

“a must-read for legal professionals...supremely well-written…Valley of the Birdtail reads like a novel and feeds the mind like a first-rate textbook.”

— Brigitte Pellerin, Canadian Bar Association

“narrative history at its finest.”

—Ian Garner, History Today

“If you know little about the relationship between Indigenous and Settler people, this book is an excellent place to start, whatever part of Canada you live in. If you know more than a little…this book is still worth reading…The authors have the heart for, and the art of, allowing others to tell their stories. These stories, which the people of the two communities were prepared to share with courage and honesty, give the book its power.”

—Anne Morton, Prairie History

“uniquely vital and urgent”

—Stubbendieck Great Plains Distinguished Book Prize jury

“masterfully written and accessible book which will resonate well beyond Canada as we work toward policies that create a better future for all”

—Writer’s Trust Shaughnessy Cohen Prize jury citation

“Urgent, essential”

—Kate Harris

“the most clear-eyed and compassionate book on the legacy of Indigenous inequality I’ve read. It’s maddening in parts, wryly funny in other parts”

—Dafoe Prize jury citation

“A painstakingly researched and incredibly compassionate account of broken relationships and the arduous journey on the road to reconciliation”

—review by Apple Books