A book review by Katherine Fawcett

First Nations communities have long known the healing power of story-telling. But healing can be a painful process, and like splitting open infected wounds and washing them with salty tears, those stories are often hard to hear.

The Outside Circle, a graphic novel by Patti LaBoucane-Benson (illustrated by Kelly Mellings) is book about loss, despair, addictions and violence, and finally hope, change and opportunity.

The story revolves around Pete, a young Aboriginal man caught in a web of gang violence and drugs, and his brother Joey, who winds up in foster care when his heroin-addicted mother relinquish’s care. It sounds grim, and it is. Pete lands in jail for shooting his mother’s abusive boyfriend, and is drawn into more gang-related trouble while behind bars. Joey runs away from foster care home and ends up on the streets. But through a process of rehabilitation and healing that involves traditional ceremonies and rituals, and through the support and story-telling of elders, there is finally a glimmer of hope.

The title reflects the role of warriors within the community, forming an “outside circle”of honour, protecting the inner circles of children, elders, and women.

Full disclosure: The Outside Circle is the first graphic novel I’ve ever read. Although an avid reader of a wide range of books, I’ve been reluctant to hop aboard the graphic novel bandwagon, thinking they were somehow “less mature”than a traditional book.

Boy, was I wrong.

The Outside Circle is a story told in rich layers. Not only through powerful images and strong, straightforward dialogue, but with techniques like: a recurring mask that Pete dons when he “loses”himself, ribbons of blood that spell out historic tragedies surrounding indigenous communities, and the tragic, text-book-like Permanent Guardianship Order Pete and Joey’s mother signs when she gives up custody of her son. There is a diagram of a family tree with its different colours and symbols representing relationships and individuals who were affected by domestic violence, sexual abuse or addiction. At the top are names of ancestors who were stolen from their families and forced into residential schools.

It took some time to get accustomed to the non-linear form of this book. There are no page numbers, and the images and text boxes are presented in such a way that encourages the eye to take in the whole spread first—to gather an impression—and then look closely for details and further explanation in the words.

However, like an intense short story, a movie that keeps you on the edge of your seat, or a piece of music that grabs you and shakes you, The Outside Circle gave me goosebumps and tears. As brutal as Pete’s family’s story is, LaBoucane-Benson and Melling present it with creativity, honesty and sensitivity. Their collaboration is a priceless gift: a living history lesson, an book of ancient wisdom and a soul-wrenching contemporary drama.

Katherine Fawcett’s book The Little Washer of Sorrows, was published this year by Thistledown Press. She lives in Pemberton.

Katherine Fawcett will be appearing in two events:

Reading event 4 – Opening Night Cabaret on Friday October 16th at 8 p.m.

Reading Event 9 – Writing What you Know on Saturday October 17th at 3 p.m.

As published in Pique Newsmagazine