A powerful, voice-driven story about overcoming grief, complex mother/daughter relationships, Native American issues, and modern mixed-race identity issues.
Mary-Claire is born a “half-breed” to a white father and American Indian mother. As a young adult preparing for days-long burial ceremonies for her mother, she reflects on her identity issues growing up on the Rez, her volatile home life below the poverty line, how her mother’s addiction escalated, and how to break the cycle. Available in paperback and e-book formats.
The release of my autobiographical fiction novel has been the most meaningful and profound experience of my life. While the aftermath was fraught in certain ways, the people I’ve met, the institutions that I’ve built relationships with, and the readers who have shared their personal journeys with me in search of connection and understanding were so very worth it.
In favor of healing, peace, and a new beginning, I have taken my matrilineal surname, Wesaw.
While I intend to republish this book under my new name eventually, it remains a stark reminder of the complicated backstories of people with mixed identities.
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Tricia is a local author and activist of Eastern Shoshone (Sosonri Newe) and Polish heritage. She grew up on the Wind River reservation in Wyoming and is currently based in Chicago. She writes about modern mixed race identity issues, breaking cycles of trauma, and combatting “Native invisibility”, most recently in her novel, The Courage to Exist in Daylight. Her writing has appeared in Story Week Reader, Word Riot, and Starlight Writers Society.
Tricia Renée Wesaw | Author 