A road novel that casts a raw, yet surprisingly tender light on violence against women, the world of prostitution, and mother-daughter relationships. The story maintains a lightness to it and features vibrant and unexpected characters—all shouldering their own burdens, all with a thirst for freedom.

Ever since Cartridge was released from prison, she has been living in a cabin in the woods. Her crime:  killing an old drunk who was assaulting a young Anishinaabe One day she received a message from her dying friend Gipsy: go find my daughter Baby Doll. Cartridge doesn’t have time to think, she leaves right away and makes her way across the country, before Baby Doll winds up on the side of the road, needles still in her veins.

Will she find Baby Doll, and bring her back to her mother before either dies? How can we learn to sort the wheat from the chaff?

Lucie Lachapelle returns to familiar themes: the search for Self and the Other, life in the wilderness, the vast Northern country. And every page of the novel reveals a voice of astounding maturity.