Check out the new hardcover signed collector’s edition of the #1 National Bestseller FROM THE ASHES by Jesse Thistle, published Simon & Schuster Canada and available only at Indigo Bookstores starting October 26th!
#1 NATIONAL BESTSELLER
*Winner, Kobo Emerging Writer Prize Nonfiction
*Winner, Indigenous Voices Awards
*Winner, High Plains Book Awards
*Finalist, CBC Canada Reads
*A Globe and Mail Book of the Year
*An Indigo Book of the Year and Staff Pick
*A CBC Best Canadian Nonfiction Book of the Year
From the Ashes was the top-selling Canadian book of 2020 and is fast becoming a Canadian classic, beloved by readers across the country. This special signed collector’s edition contains a new introduction by the author and additional poems, along with a full-colour photography insert
If I can just make it to the next minute…then I might have a chance to live; I might have a chance to be something more than just a struggling crackhead.
Abandoned by his parents as a toddler, Jesse Thistle briefly found himself in the foster-care system with his two brothers, cut off from all they had known. Eventually the children landed in the home of their paternal grandparents, whose tough-love attitudes quickly resulted in conflicts. Throughout it all, the ghost of Jesse’s drug-addicted father haunted the halls of the house and the memories of every family member. Struggling with all that had happened, Jesse succumbed to a self-destructive cycle of drug and alcohol addiction and petty crime, spending more than a decade on and off the streets, often homeless. Finally, he realized he would die unless he turned his life around.
In this heartwarming and heart-wrenching memoir, Jesse Thistle writes honestly and fearlessly about his painful past, the abuse he endured, and how he uncovered the truth about his parents. Through sheer perseverance and education—and newfound love—he found his way back into the circle of his Indigenous culture and family.
From the Ashes is a remarkable memoir about hope and resilience, and a revelatory look into the life of a Métis-Cree man who refused to give up. It’s an eloquent exploration of the impact of prejudice and racism, and, in the end, about how love and support can help us find happiness despite the odds.
Jesse Thistle is Métis-Cree, from Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, and an assistant professor in Humanities at York University in Toronto. From theAshes was the top-selling Canadian book in 2020, the winner of the Kobo Emerging Writer Prize for Nonfiction, Indigenous VoicesAward, and High Plains Book Award, and also a finalist for CBC Canada Reads.Jesse won a Governor General’s Academic Medal in 2016, and is aPierre Elliot Trudeau Foundation Scholar and a Vanier Scholar. A frequent keynote speaker, he lives in Hamilton, Ontario, with his wife, Lucie, and is at work on multiple projects, including his next book. Jesse is represented by Samantha Haywood.