SOURCE: Cariou, Warren. “Native Novels Range from Passionate to Polished.” Canadian Forum 78, no. 884 (December 1999): 38-40.

In the following review, Cariou contrasts Truth and Bright Water with Beatrice Culleton Mosionier's In Search of April Raintree, asserting that the novels represent the two extremes of contemporary First Nations literature.

Over the last 20 years, First Nations literature in Canada has gone from a footnote in the country's literary scene to a burgeoning and multifaceted scene of its own, and there are many indications that this flowering will continue for a long time to come. The recent republication of Beatrice Culleton Misionier's 1983 novel In Search of April Raintree and the much-awaited new release of Thomas King's Truth and Bright Water provide an opportunity to ponder how we got here, and where these developments might lead.

Beatrice Culleton Mosionier (formerly Beatrice Culleton) was one of the first Native novelists to achieve national recognition...