It’s been a while since I read a book I couldn’t put down. It’s been some time since I shared any of my reading here. Depression can dim the light of brilliant books, and dampen enthusiasm for sharing them. That is still a problem. But this book cut through. Empire of Wild, by Cherie Dimaline, takes place in a Canadian indigenous community and is written by a Native author. It is fantasy genre, magical realism.

I enjoyed it so much. I was rooting for the characters. I wanted to know what would happen next. I trusted the author to end the book in a way I could live with. It was like she took the world as I know it, shook it like a snow globe, and drew a mustache on it with Sharpie.

The book is descriptive in a darkly funny way, fascinating, and irreverent. There are so many characters that at the beginning, I had to draw a diagram to keep it straight. But I determined to keep reading, even when I couldn’t quite figure out who was who, and it was OK. I learned the rules of the story, and got to know the characters.

This is action, drama, grief, marital love, and folklore, wrapped up in a delicious sandwich of goodness. It is escapist reading at its best.