A Heart Gripping Story

Thanks for the thought-provoking review of Moonshadow:

"I was curious to find out how a work of fiction based on the grim truths of the Canadian residential school system could be categorized as a love story, but Ms. Goddard has managed to weave the two themes together seamlessly.

This modern-day story follows Lauren, a young woman fresh out of journalism school who is sent to help look after her cherished grandfather who has fallen ill. During their time together at the family cottage, Lauren’s grandfather discloses how, in the early 1960s, he fell in love with an indigenous girl named Rose with whom he had a brief, but passionate courtship and with whom he regretfully ended up losing touch. He appeals to Lauren to help him find Rose with the hope of atoning for old wrongs.

Thanks to the author’s sensitive yet forthright storytelling, this book not only captures the innocence and yearning of young love but also brings to light the injustices of racism, abuse, forced assimilation, and the genocide of children—created and perpetuated, no less, by government- and church-run schools for more than a hundred years.

A compelling story that will grip your heart."

—Author MJ Mumford 5 stars