Sisters Book

I greatly admire Lill's courage in digging into the societal values of assimilation that allowed cultural genocide through Catholic convent-run Native residential schools. The plot plays out as the memories of a formerly idealistic young nun during a legal interrogation session after she burns down the school. We gradually see that the young nuns are being just as thoroughly indoctrinated (educated?) as the Native children. A very powerful portrayal of a shameful blotch in Canadian history.

April 6,2017
On re-reading this play for Book Club and in preparation for seeing a production of it, I saw more closely how the construct of a "memory play" is like a collage, which is the way we experience memory bits daily. I also noticed the importance of sound effects to the overall impression - barking dogs, children singing, belt whipping. Lill starkly displays the personal trauma of Canada's brutal residential schools and her concern for this social issue is intense. We are left asking "How can Christian values become so twisted by bureaucrats?"… most of whom who have never answered for these political platforms.