The Rim

Who are we? What stars must align for us to be born? How do memory and identity shape our lives? McMichael’s novel subtly offers answers to these questions through the multivocal story of the relationship between a Cree residential school survivor from Manitoba and an Idaho ranching family, and how choice and chance can weave together in tragic and transformative ways. The Rim begins with young Jim Bird being taken from his family in the northern Manitoba bush and put into Sturgeon Landing School; later, he’s rescued from the school but rejected by his family, and ends up working on the Sawtell ranch in Idaho. Ennis Sawtell, a young kid fascinated with killing animals around the ranch, changes profoundly when he accidentally kills his mom’s favorite feral cat, and again when Jim becomes his guardian. Ennis’s mom, dad, and brother each weave their voices and stories into the tragic mix.