Summary:- Five Little Indians by Michelle Good

Book Summary

The book, Five Little Indians book summary is based on the lives of five young adults and is written by Michelle Good. The story tells about five young adults, and how they grapple with life after ‘Indian School’ in the 1960s. They are thrown out onto the streets of Vancouver with no support, money, family connections, or life skills from their prison-like residential school. In a world where it seems that they have no place, they try to deal with years of neglect and trauma.

Five Little Indians are the first novel by Michelle Good. She is a poet, lawyer, and political activist. She has spent as a lawyer for many years for the rights of survivors of the residential schools. Then she pursued her master’s in fine arts, resulting in a thesis that became the basis for her novel.

The five young adults described in the novel are Kenny, Lucy, Maisie, Clara, and Howie. Kenny was separated from his mother at the age of 16. A priest beat him. Lucy is an orphan girl, earlier working as a maid, later on, after getting a degree went to a nursing school. Maisie seems to be functioning independently and has acquired an apartment, a job, and a boyfriend. Clara preceded Lucy out of the system. She was working as a maid at the same place Kenny was working. Howie settles down to build a life with Clara within the Indian community on the Cree Reserve.

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Note:- In the end, Lucy remains at the house she shared with Kenny after Kenny’s death and was looking forward to the day when she will die and reunite with Kenny in the afterlife.