Stolen Life: The Journey of a Cree Woman
by Rudy Wiebe, Yvonne Johnson
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"The award-winning Stolen Life is a remarkable collaborative work between a distinguished novelist and a Cree woman who broke a lifetime of silence to share her story. Imprisoned for murder at the age of twenty-seven, Yvonne Johnson sought out Rudy Wiebe, the chronicler of her ancestor Big Bear, as a means of coming to terms with her self, her past and the crime that defines her future. The ensuing story, which is told with Wiebe's compassion and infused with Johnson's intelligence and show more spirituality defies the grisly events of her life."--BOOK JACKET. show lessTags
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Member Reviews
This is a powerful story of how a life of horrific abuse can sometimes lead to decisions being made that will affect the rest of a person's life. As I read this book I felt a great deal of sympathy for Yvonne, who rightfully should have been raised in a nurturing home but instead was raised with violence, neglect, and abuse.
I liked that Yvonne's journal was part of this book, and that the way she writes and speaks is so accurately presented. I have read other reviews (not on LT) that found this to be disconcerting and hard to follow, but I didn't find that to be true.
Yvonne is honest and forthright about what happened, not only as a child and young woman, but also about what happened on the night the tragedy (murder) occured. However, show more to me the ultimate tragedy is that she herself is a victim; had she been raised in a nurturing environment, this story need never have been written.
I came away from this book with admiration for Yvonne, who had the courage to tell her story no matter how ugly it got. show less
I liked that Yvonne's journal was part of this book, and that the way she writes and speaks is so accurately presented. I have read other reviews (not on LT) that found this to be disconcerting and hard to follow, but I didn't find that to be true.
Yvonne is honest and forthright about what happened, not only as a child and young woman, but also about what happened on the night the tragedy (murder) occured. However, show more to me the ultimate tragedy is that she herself is a victim; had she been raised in a nurturing environment, this story need never have been written.
I came away from this book with admiration for Yvonne, who had the courage to tell her story no matter how ugly it got. show less
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100 works; 6 members
Author Information
37+ Works 1,278 Members
A firm belief in the redemptive possibilities of history dominates Rudy Wiebe's fiction. His characters search for community, for a spiritual collective informed and strengthened by historical consciousness. This attempt to unite the present and the past stems from Wiebe's Mennonite religious background. Central to the Mennonite belief is the show more rejection of loyalty to contemporary and worldly government; personal commitment belongs, instead, to the religious community, with its hard-earned historical heritage as a nonconformist movement. Wiebe was born in a northern Saskatchewan farming community; in 1947 the family moved to Alberta, and he completed his education at the University of Alberta, where he teaches. Wiebe's first novel, Peace Shall Destroy Many (1962), addresses pacifism, a belief central to Mennonites. The novel's hero faces a moral quandary when forced to choose between religious convictions and Canadian nationalistic fervor during World War II. While The Blue Mountains of China (1970) records Mennonite history, The Temptations of Big Bear (1973) examines the destruction of Indian culture in white Canada, and The Scorched-Wood People (1977) takes up the plight of the Metis---those with mixed blood; all three novels focus on minorities who must struggle to maintain their sense of community. Ideas repugnant to the Mennonite sensibility, violence and self-destruction, figure in The Mad Trapper (1980), which recounts the hunt for a man whose isolation has driven him into madness. In 1980 Wiebe's short stories were collected in The Angel of the Tar Sands and Other Stories. Stylistically, Wiebe gives little ground to the reader, for his fiction is characterized by difficult dialects, a web of details, and a dense style. (Bowker Author Biography) Rudy Wiebe is the author of several short story collections and essays. He is also the author of eight novels, including A Discovery of Strangers and The Temptations of Big Bear, both winners of the Governor General's Award for Fiction. He lives in Edmonton, Alberta. (Publisher Provided) show less
1 Work 41 Members
Awards and Honors
Common Knowledge
- Original publication date
- 1998
- People/Characters
- Yvonne Johnson
- Important places
- Saskatchewan, Canada
Classifications
- Genres
- Biography & Memoir, Nonfiction, General Nonfiction
- DDC/MDS
- 364.15 — Society, Government, and Culture Social problems and social services Crime Criminal offenses Offenses against the person
- LCC
- E99 .C88 .J648 — History of the United States America Indians of North America Indian tribes and cultures
- BISAC
Statistics
- Members
- 176
- Popularity
- 184,312
- Reviews
- 2
- Rating
- (3.17)
- Languages
- English, Norwegian (Bokmål)
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 7
- ASINs
- 2
