HIGH PLAINS BOOK AWARD FINALIST 2017

“Writing with intelligence and compassion…Orr brings to life a chapter in our history whose consequences still haunt Canada’s relationship with the Métis and other first nations’ people.” Daphne Bramham, Columnist, Vancouver Sun

Willie Lorimer is a young poetry student who forgot to resign his commission in the Canadian militia. When he is called up to join the fight against the Métis rebel leader, Louis Riel, Willie is scared, but bolstered by his own naïveté. The journey to the heart of the rebellion is long and full of anguish. When the militia reach the West, things go tragically wrong, and their once-heroic cause is marred by the cynical realities of politics, and the harsh realities of war.