Brian Thomas Isaac's latest is a coming-of-age novel set on the Okanagan Indian Reserve — read an excerpt now

CBC

05-02-2025

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B.C. author Brian Thomas Isaac is back with a new novel. Bones of a Giant, which is set on the Okanagan Indian Reserve in the 1960s, tells the story of 16-year-old Lewis Toma as he navigates grief, responsibility and family secrets.
It continues the story Isaac began in his acclaimed debut novel All the Quiet Places.
This 71-year-old writer's coming-of-age novel is a debut like no other
Bones of a Giant takes place in 1968, when Lewis is finally shaking off the grief of his brother Eddie's disappearance. When his mother, Grace and her friend Isabel go south to the States to pick fruit to make some quick cash for renovations, Lewis is left to spend the summer with his Aunt Jean, Uncle Ned and his cousins in their house along the Salmon River.
Their home is an opposing force against the legacy of residential schools and racism that have negatively impacted his community — leaving the women to carry most of the load.
When Lewis's absentee father shows up scheming to use the Indian Act to steal the land Lewis and his mother have been living on, Lewis has to find a way to avoid the traps and secure a future for himself.
"I was inspired to write this book by the time I spent as a kid staying with an aunt and uncle on the reserve where I grew up," Isaac told CBC Books in an email.
"They passed away much too soon. They were kind, confident and hard-working. I still remember how safe I felt in their company."
Isaac, who was born in 1950 on B.C.'s Okanagan Indian Reserve, said that the 1960s setting is taken from his own memories of that time.
" Bones of a Giant takes place over one summer in 1968. First Nations people were influenced by the 1960s in the same way as others," he said.
"Back then, I was a pimple-faced teenager living on reserve. It was a time of weak pot and good rock and roll music on AM radio, and I wore long hair, bell-bottomed blue jeans and said 'man' a lot. My main character in the novel, Lewis Toma, is also a sixties youth."
Isaac's debut novel All the Quiet Places won an Indigenous Voice Award in 2022. Longlisted for Canada Reads 2022, the story follows six-year-old Eddie as he grows up on the Okanagan Indian Reserve in B.C. in the 1950s and faces tragedy as he navigates his culture and the landscape.
All the Quiet Places was also on shortlist for the the Amazon Canada First Novel Award, the 2022 Scotiabank Giller Prize longlist and was a finalist for the 2022 Governor General's Literary Award for fiction.
Bones of a Giant will be out on May 27th, 2025. You can read an excerpt below.
Lewis sat on the step to put his shoes on, then looked toward the trees that shielded the river. Birds flew up, scattering in all directions as if they couldn't make up their minds where to settle. Crows on treetops presided over the world below. The river was quiet now, unlike in the spring, when it had risen so high it had spilled onto the shore, the current so strong he could feel a gentle shivering in the bedsprings at night.
He jumped off the porch steps and wandered past the outhouse to the network of forest trails he and Eddie had made long ago to throw off anyone trying to find them. Now they were overgrown with thick brush and weeds. He threaded his way along a barely visible path he thought was the shortcut through the woods. But he was quickly surrounded by rose bushes and hawthorns. Ducking under a branch, he tripped over an exposed root and fell, scratching his face, and knew he was on the wrong trail. Backtracking, he came to the pointy stump where he and his brother had taken turns to hack away at a tree with an axe.
When he spotted the large fir riddled with holes that looked like they were made by a shotgun blast instead of diligent woodpeckers, he knew he was getting close to the water.
When he spotted the large fir riddled with holes that looked like they were made by a shotgun blast instead of diligent woodpeckers, he knew he was getting close to the water. Entering a small clearing, he saw the burl shaped like a woman's breast on the trunk of another tree that he and Eddie rubbed for good luck each time they walked by. Minutes later he stepped out onto the riverbank, surprising a blue heron. It gave a honking squawk that echoed like a trumpet as it scrambled off the river. Water fell in glassy ribbons from trailing feet as powerful wings lifted it skyward. Tipping to its side, it glided around the bend like a great prehistoric bird.
Lewis's eyes were drawn to a heap of broken trees on the far side of the river. His heart began to race. Was that someone's legs caught up in the tangle? Afraid of what he might find, he waded across and picked up a stick to prod at the legs. When he realized it was just an old pair of jeans, he pulled them out and tossed them into the brush.
Downriver was the large cedar he had crawled over the day before. When he was little, he would straddle the trunk like he was riding a horse, toss in his fishing line and watch the baited hook float downstream on top of the water. It was a place where a person could fish and never leave empty-handed.
Lewis stumbled over slippery stones until he reached a wide spot on the bank and sat down. Sweat burned his eyes, so he cupped a handful of the water and splashed his face. A light wind shook the leaves of the trees around him and small birds lifted into the air from the branches. For a moment he sat watching them, then he stood, brushing off his rear end. He jumped onto the cedar log and slid down the other side, his feet sinking in the mud close to shore. He waded through the shallows until the cool river water came up to his chest, and he was thankful for the instant relief.
The sun beat down hot on his head, so he dove in. Water burned his nose and pressure pushed at his ears until he surfaced. He waded onto a rock-strewn bar of land and tipped his head back to shake the water from his hair. Just ahead was the bottomless hole he and his brother had discovered a long time ago, where part of the river disappeared underground. His uncle said he was sure this was the place where Eddie had ended his life. When Lewis asked his mother if it was true, she walked out of the house and over to Alphonse's place and yelled at his uncle to stop saying such things. Lewis thought about Eddie every day.
Lewis thought about Eddie every day.
Lewis went down on his stomach and cupped his hands around his eyes to look past the reflections and down into the hole. Unable to see much, he stood and picked up a piece of soaked driftwood and tossed it into the centre of the hole. He watched the stick fight back for a moment, twisting and reaching up like a desperate arm, before the river sucked it down into the gloom. A pebble bounced off the rocks, striking his leg.
He turned to see his Uncle Alphonse standing near his fishing log, rubbing his sore back with one hand while waving for him to come back with the other. Ever since he injured his back in a sawmill accident a few years ago, his once-muscular physique, toned by years of working on the green chain pulling heavy lumber off the line, now caused him such bother that he walked with a stoop, like he was falling forward on his legs.
Lewis went over to him.
His uncle asked, "Whatcha doing?"
"Just looking around."
"I seen you staring into that hole. It's darker down there than three feet up a cow's ass, ain't it? I don't know what you're hunting for, but I found something you should take a look at."
As Alphonse led the way through the thick brush along the bank of the river, Lewis kept his eyes down to watch for booby traps left by nature. Once, when he'd tried to walk across a deadfall of branches, he had fallen in and his legs were badly scratched. Brushing up against devil's club was the worst. Its needles shot out such hot, searing pain that, now, walking through the stinging nettles that grew hand-high didn't hurt much at all.
His uncle stopped so suddenly Lewis bumped into him.
"Listen," Alphonse whispered.
Lewis heard a low hum but couldn't see what was making the sound until his uncle pointed to wasps circling above a small hole in the ground. Both stepped quietly away. They passed the place where Lewis filled his water pails and continued until they came to a clearing at the edge of the river a hundred yards from the Salmon River Bridge. Alphonse pointed to where a huge cottonwood had broken off six feet above the ground. The rest lay on the forest floor, its large broken branches reaching out. Bark hung down like ragged clothes on bleached arms. Eddie had told Lewis the tree looked like the bones of a giant.
I seen this before but didn't notice there's a trail that goes right up to the stump. Maybe a bear used it," Alphonse said. "Listen to all the birds whistling and singing. It's like a different world down here.
"I seen this before but didn't notice there's a trail that goes right up to the stump. Maybe a bear used it," Alphonse said. "Listen to all the birds whistling and singing. It's like a different world down here."
No one but Lewis knew that this was Eddie's hidden place. And Lewis had only come upon it because he followed Eddie to the spot and saw him crawl inside the tree stump. Eddie never would have caught his little brother spying if Lewis hadn't sneezed. When he tried to run away, Eddie grabbed him by his T-shirt and made him promise not to tell anybody his secret or he would get the beating of his life.
When he sat here by himself, Lewis could almost feel Eddie's presence.