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From the Ashes (memoir)

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2019 memoir by Jesse Thistle
From the Ashes
AuthorJesse Thistle
PublisherSimon & Schuster
Publication date2019
ISBN978-1982101213

From the Ashes is a 2019 memoir by Métis-Cree academic and writer Jesse Thistle.

The memoir documents Thistle's difficult upbringing, struggles with homelessness, addiction and his Indigenous identity, yet is centred on the theme of love. It concludes with his success in academia, finding love, and community emplacement. From the Ashes is the bestselling Indigenous memoir in Canada over the last 20 years, ranking 4th overall of Canadian memoirs published between 2006-2021, behind only Chris Hadfield, Wayne Gretzky, and Amanda Lindhout. From the Ashes was also named on January 31, 2024 one of the "most notable" 100 books Simon and Schuster U.S. and all its 31 international imprints have published between 1924-2024. Notably, From the Ashes is the only Canadian authored book to make this list alongside authors Ernest Hewmingway, Margret Mitchell, Ray Bradbury, Friedrich Backman, Stephen King, Frank McCourt, and F. Scott Fitzgerald among others.

The book was met with praise from reviewers, attracted awards for Thistle and was a Canadian bestselling book in 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2022.

Author

Jesse Thistle is a Métis-Cree professor at York University who researches Michif road allowance life in mid 20th-century Saskatchewan. He has also worked in the fields of Indigenous homelessness, addiction and intergenerational trauma. From the Ashes is Thistle's first book.

Synopsis

The book documents Thistle's difficult upbringing in Saskatchewan, his father's addiction issues, and being taken into state custody before being cared for by his grandparents in Brampton, Ontario. From the Ashes details Thistle's struggle with his own Indigenous identity, his relationship with his brothers, his use of drugs, being kicked out of his grandparents home and his time living on the streets in Vancouver, Brampton, Ottawa and Toronto.

Thistle's story is told over short chapters, and makes use of prose and poetry. As a young adult, Thistle struggles with suicidal ideation, and he is jailed, before finding redemption through university education.

Critical reception

Jesse Winter writing in The Toronto Star describes the narration as brutal and humble. Michelle Nolden, writing in Toronto Life described it as inspirational and praised the author's brutal honesty and bravery and described the book as a "beautiful story of hope, love and perseverance".

As of October 2020, From the Ashes was the bestselling Canadian book of 2020 in any genre or format; it finished the year in this spot. The book was the most borrowed Canadian non-fiction book of 2021 and the bestselling Canadian non-fiction book of 2020. It was also the bestselling two-year-old Canadian book in 2021. The book was featured in the Canadian Broadcasting's Canada Reads competition in 2020.

References

  1. Boon, Sonja; McNeill, Laurie; Rak, Julie; Rifkind, Candida (2022-12-29). The Routledge Introduction to Auto/biography in Canada. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 978-1-000-80094-4.
  2. HILLEL ITALIE (2024-01-31). "Simon & Schuster marks centennial with list of 100 notable books, from 'Catch-22' to 'Eloise'". San Diego Union-Tribune. Associated Press. Retrieved 2024-02-11.
  3. "Jesse Thistle, Zalika Reid-Benta, J.R. McConvey win Kobo's Emerging Writer Prizes - Quill and Quire". Quill and Quire - Canada's magazine of book news and reviews. 2020-06-25. Retrieved 2022-07-05.
  4. "Jesse Thistle among winners of 2020 Indigenous Voices Awards for memoir From the Ashes". CBC Books, June 22, 2020.
  5. ^ "From the Ashes by Jesse Thistle is the #1 bestselling Canadian print book of 2020 so far". CBC Books, October 20, 2020.
  6. ^ "Canada Reads spotlight: From the Ashes by Jesse Thistle". CBC. 17 March 2020.
  7. ^ "Métis-Cree academic Jesse Thistle's memoir is a powerful cap to a remarkable comeback". The Toronto Star. 2019-08-08. ISSN 0319-0781. Retrieved 2022-07-05.
  8. ^ "12 books to read if you loved Canada Reads finalist Life in the City of Dirty Water". CBC. 4 April 2022.
  9. "What notable Torontonians are watching, reading and listening to this February". Toronto Life. 2022-01-31. Retrieved 2022-07-05.
  10. "Most circulated books of 2021". BookNet Canada. Retrieved 2022-01-27.
  11. "Bestselling books of 2020". BookNet Canada. Retrieved 2022-07-07.
  12. "The not-so-terrible twos: Backlist sales bumps". BookNet Canada. Retrieved 2022-01-27.

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