THE CIRCLE by Katherena Vermette

The third and final novel in Vermette's trilogy.

There is always a sadness for a reader when they complete the final book of a series they’ve come to love, and that was no less true for me when I finished The Circle by Métis-Canadian author Katherena Vermette. I came to Vermette’s series first through book 2, The Strangers, while on Prince Edward Island in late 2022, quickly reading book 1 The Break when I got back to Australia. I was also very excited to meet Katherena at the 2023 Brisbane Writer’s Festival.

The Circle was, frankly, not quite what I expected. The third in a trilogy about The Stranger family and the people in their orbit, I thought this book would use the storytelling of a restorative justice circle, as was suggested by the title and within the text. Restorative justice is talked about by Ben, Phoenix’s counsellor (and his observations of how the legal and education systems have colonised that process was brilliant).

Instead, the circle is formed by the different perspectives of the story as it occurred. However, I didn’t feel it worked well as a story telling device in this novel.

If you have not read the previous two books, there is much about this one that will seem shallow as a storytelling device. Unlike The Strangers (which I read without having read The Break and still loved), I don’t think much of the drama of this story resonates without knowing that backstory. The storytelling is not shallow - it just builds on what has come before it, rather than creating a foundation of its own.

With that said, I think there is much more than could have been included in this novel - not just tying up loose ends, but some depth that could have been added to make it, in and of itself, a gem of a novel. Instead, I think it just finishes the story up at a certain point.

Initially, I found this a little frustrating, but I then checked myself. When are real stories ever tied up neatly with a bow? Particularly for Aboriginal and Indigenous peoples across the globe, when are their stories neat and linear? They’re not - mainly because colonisers have created systems that ensure that mess is norm for them. So despite my feelings that there were more questions than answers provided by this final story, that mess is a legitimate description of how so many stories of native peoples are, despite their best efforts to work within colonist systems and expectations. Vermette gets that right, and I think it takes courage to finish a trilogy in that space, resisting the temptation to package it all up neatly.

Notwithstanding this, I still think there was more that could have been included that would have fleshed out more of the story here.

Much of The Circle sits in and around Cedar Sage Stranger, little sister of Phoenix, the main “villain” in this series. Cedar is now at university, and managing a range of situations and emotions which inevitably lead back to her absent mother, Elsie, and the crimes Phoenix committed that changed their lives. We also hear from M (formerly Emily), Phoneix’s main victim, and her family. The connections between the families are many - they are inextricably linked for a variety of reasons. Inevitably though not completely, these links are for the worse, for all concerned.

It would be a lie to say I didn’t enjoy this book - I absolutely devoured it. However, when it follows two absolute powerhouse novels, The Circle falls short of what it could have been. Still great - but this one lacks the power and gut punch of its predecessors. That said, when Katherena Vermette publishes her next book, I will buy it without hesitation. Her story telling is wonderful. Her depictions of Canadian First Nations people (of which she is one) are insightful and remain with you long after the book is finished.

The Circle releases in Australia next month - my copy came from my local Canadian bookshop Bookmark in Charlottetown, via a visiting friend (however they ship globally!).

If you have read The Break or The Strangers then this is a must-read - you absolutely need to see this story through.