From the Ashes: My Story of Being Métis, Homeless, and Finding My Way

Jesse Thistle was born to a Métis and Cree father and a Scottish-Canadian mother, and was abandoned with his brothers by his parents as a small child. His grandparents raised them, and he grew up with the shame of being left. As a young man he fell into addiction and spent years homeless on the streets of Toronto and Hamilton. The memoir traces how he began to turn his life around, with the help of his future partner and the discovery of reading, and later became a university academic.

It is for readers who care about Indigenous life in Canada, homelessness and recovery. The telling is raw and honest, with sections of verse.

Inward-looking and clear-cut; an easy read.

Best for readers like The Escapist Adventurer. Which reader are you?