20 moving Canadian memoirs to read right now

Looking for a good book? Here are 20 great true stories worth your time.

Talking to Strangersby Marianne Boucher

Marianne Boucher's graphic memoirTalking to Strangersdescribeshow, in the summer of 1980, she moved to California to follow her figure skating dreams and ended up joining a cult. Boucher details how the group'ssophisticated brainwashing techniques overpowered her free will until she managed to escape.

• Marianne Boucher was a cult member back in the 1980s. Now she's telling her story in a comic book

Boucher lives in Toronto and has covered major criminal trials as a court reporter and illustrator.

The Next Chapter16:17Marianne Boucher on Talking to Strangers

The artist and illustrator Marianne Boucher on her graphic memoir Talking to Strangers, about being lured into a cult as a teenager.

The Skin We're Inby Desmond Cole

InThe Skin We're In, journalist and activist Desmond Cole looks at what it's like to live in Canada as a black person.In The Skin We're Inlooks at one year, 2017, and chronicles Coles's personal journalism, activism and experiences alongside stories that made the headlines across the country, including refugees crossing the Canada-U.S. border in the middle of winter and the death of Somali-CanadianAbdirahman Abdiat the hands of the Ottawa police.

• What's it like to be black in Canada? Under policing, it's hell, says Desmond Cole

Cole is ajournalist, radio hostand activist based inToronto.His writing has appeared in the Toronto Star, Toronto Life, Now Magazineandthe Walrus.The Skin We're Inis his first book.

To the Riverby Don Gillmor

When David Gillmor disappeared more than 10 years ago, his truck and cowboy hat were found at the edge of the Yukon River. His body was recovered six months later, just as his brother Don Gillmor journeyed to Whitehorse to canoe through the waters his brother had departed from.To the Riverexplores how survivors of suicide cope with a loved one's decision to take their own lifeand examines the larger social, cultural and psychological questions surrounding suicide, especially among middle-aged men.

To the Riverwon the 2019 Governor General's Literary Award for nonfiction.

• Don Gillmor writes about losing his brother to the Yukon River

Gillmor is a Toronto journalist and author of novels and nonfiction books likeCanada: A People's History.He has twice been nominated for the Governor General's Literary Award in the young people's literature text category forThe Fabulous SongandThe Christmas Orange.

Emma Hansen's stillborn blog draws worldwide support

10 years ago

Duration 2:57

Emma Hansen's stillborn blog draws worldwide support

We Have Always Been Hereby Samra Habib

Samra Habib's memoirWe Have Always Been Hereis an exploration of the ways we disguise and minimize ourselves for the sake of survival. As a child, Habib hid her faith from Islamic extremists in Pakistan and later, as a refugee in Canada, endured racist bullying and the threat of an arranged marriage. In travelling the world and exploring art and sexuality, Habib searches for the truth of her identity.

• Why Samra Habib shares her story about being a queer Muslim woman and coming to Canada as a refugee

We Have Always Been Herewill be defended by Amanda Brugel on Canada Reads 2020.

Habib isa journalist, photographer and activist based in Toronto.CBC Booksnamed Habiba writer to watch in 2019.We Have Always Been Hereis her first book.

The Next Chapter15:50Helen Knott on In My Own Moccasins

Helen Knott on In My Own Moccasins: A Memoir of Resilience, which she calls "a book of healing."

Stillby Emma Hansen

Emma Hansen was almost 40 weeks pregnant when her baby died. But since she was so far along in her pregnancy, she had to carry her son to term and deliver him. After she gave birth to her son Reid, and saidgoodbye to him, she wrote an essay online about her experience, and the complicated grief that came with it. The essay went viral, and inspiredStill,a memoir about the same experience, and an attempt to start a conversation about a devastating loss that two million women experience annually, but is rarely talked about.

• Stillborn death of Emma Hansen's son draws worldwide support

Hansen is a blogger, model and doulawho writes and speaks about stillbirth and child loss.Stillis her first book.

Day 69:40Sarah Kurchak talks about 'overcoming' autism and the damage done by trying to be 'normal' in new memoir

Sarah Kurchak was diagnosed with autism at 27 years old. For her, it answered a lot of her own questions. But it also raised a new one: Were all those years of pretending to be "normal" really worth it

Nerveby Eva Holland

Eva Holland explores fear in her first bookNerve.After losing her mother suddenly, Holland decides it's time to face her fears and dives headfirst into tackling them. Along the way, she explores the science of fear and tries to get answers to questions like: Can you really smell fear? What causes fear? Is it possible to be truly fearless?

• Yukon writer to face her fears in new book

Holland is a writer and editor based in Whitehorse.Her work has appeared in Outside, Wired, the Walrus and Canadian Geographic.

Out In The Open16:58In the age of #MeToo, advocate says we need to start talking about stalking

Julie Lalonde was stalked by her ex-partner for a decade. Although she's an outspoken advocate for women's safety from violence, she didn't speak about it publicly (and seldom even privately) while it was happening. Julie tells Piya why she doesn't think stalking will ever have a #MeToo moment, and what changes she wants to see among law enforcement and in our culture at large in order to take its effects more seriously.

Boy Wondersby Cathal Kelly

Cathal Kelly's memoir,Boy Wonders,revealsa hardscrabble upbringing in a single-parent household during the 1970s and 1980s in Toronto. Kelly shares that he found refuge in popular culture Dungeons and Dragons,Star Warsand the Lord of the Rings, to name a few things whichshapedhis identity in various ways.

Boy Wonderswon the2019 Stephen LeacockMemorial Medal for Humour.

• How Star Wars movies turned Cathal Kelly into a storyteller

Kelly is a national sports columnist at the Globe and Mail.Boy Wondersis his first book.

The Next Chapter4:03Eternity Martis on her memoir They Said This Would Be Fun

Eternity Martis on her memoir of university life, They Said This Would Be Fun: Race, Campus Life and Growing Up.

In My Own Moccasinsby Helen Knott

Helen Knott is a poet and writer of Dane Zaa, Nehiyaw and European descent. Her memoir,In My Own Moccasins, is a story of addiction, sexual violence and intergenerational trauma. It explores how colonization has affected her family over generations. But it is also a story of hope and redemption, celebrating the resilience and history of her family.

• Helen Knott explores the connection between violence against Indigenous women and violence against the land

Knott is a social worker and writer.In My Own Moccasinsis her first book.

The Next Chapter22:42Sean McCann and Andrea Aragon on One Good Reason

Sean McCann and Andrea Aragon on their co-written memoir One Good Reason: A Memoir of Addiction and Recovery, Music, and Love.

I Overcame My Autism and All I Got Was This Lousy Anxiety Disorderby Sarah Kurchak

Sarah Kurchakhas autism. While she was growing up in the 1980s and 1990s, she realized she was different from her peers and did everything to overcome it. She changed everything about herself to fit in. It worked, but along the way, she developed anxiety and depression.I Overcame My Autism and All I Got Was This Lousy Anxiety Disorderis a memoir about how Kurchak became an "autism" success story, how it almost ruined her life, and what she did to reclaim her identity and her health.

• Why I'm not hiding my autism any longer

Kurchak is a writer whose work has appeared in the Guardian, CBC, Vox and Electric Literature.I Overcame My Autism and All I Got Was This Lousy Anxiety Disorderis her first book.

The Next Chapter3:38Dorothy Ellen Palmer on Falling for Myself

Dorothy Ellen Palmer on her candid memoir Falling for Myself, about coming to terms with her past and overcoming her sense of shame at being a disabled person.

Resilience is Futileby Julie S. Lalonde

For more than 10 years, Julie S. Lalonde kept a terrifying secret: she was being stalked by her ex. At 20 years old, Lalonde left an abusive relationship, and he would go on to stalk her for the following decade. While Lalonde rose to national prominence as a women's rights advocate, writer and speaker, she would ask herself the same question at every event, rally orconference:Was he here?Resilience is Futileis about this terrifying experience, and also about how we handle trauma and find the strength to not only survive, but thrive.

• 'What it does to your life': women's rights advocate releases video highlighting stalking

Lalonde is a women's rights advocateand public educator. Her writing has appeared on CBC, Wired and Flare.Resilience is Futileis her first book.

Nobody Ever Talks About Anything But the Endby Liz Levine

In 2016, Liz Levine's sister Tamara committed suicide. In the memoirNobody Ever Talks About Anything But the End,Levine tells the story of her sister alongside the story of another death that had a huge impact on her life: that of her childhood sweetheart Judson to cancer.Nobody Ever Talks About Anything But the Endis a book about grief, and it's messiness, but it's also a book about life and its beauty.

Levine is a televisionand film producer who has worked onStory of a GirlandjPod.Her writing has appeared in the National Post, The Walrus and the Vancouver Sun.Nobody Ever Talks About Anything But the Endis her first book.

They Said This Would Be Funby Eternity Martis

Eternity Martiswas smart, bookish and excited to go to university. But once she got to campus, life wasn't what she imagined. She was often the only student of colour in classes, at parties and in dorms, and had to face racial slurs, students in blackface at parties and more on a regular basis.They Said This Would Be Funis a memoir about the difficulty of navigating through white spaces as a student of colour and asks us to confront the systemic issues that define the college experience for racialized and marginalized students.

• Six Canadian writers of black heritage to watch in 2020

Martis is a Toronto-based journalist, author and senior editor atXtra.Her work focuses onissues ofrace and gender andhas been featured in Vice, Salon, Hazlitt, TVO.org, The Walrus, Huffington Post and CBC.They Said This Would Be Funis her first book.

The Next Chapter16:14Jenny Heijun Wills on Older Sister: Not Necessarily Related

Jenny Heijun Wills on her award-winning memoir of reconnecting with her birth parents, Older Sister: Not Necessarily Related.

The Cure for Hateby Tony McAleer

Tony McAleerchronicles how he went from being an angry kid in an affluent family to becoming the leader of a neo-Nazi group in his memoirThe Cure for Hate. The birth of his child, and the overwhelming sense of love he felt, was a turning point for McAleer. He ended up leaving the neo-Nazi group and, through his book, makes a case for how understanding and compassion can bring peopletogether.

• 'This ideology on violent far right is just as toxic as ISIS,' says former white supremacist

McAleer is a speaker, activist andco-founder of the nonprofit organization Life After Hate. He lives in Vancouver.The Cure for Hateis his first book.

One Good Reason bySan McCann and Andrea Aragon

San McCannspent 20 years of his life as a founder of Great Big Sea, the bestselling Newfoundland folk rock band that was known asCanada's biggest party band.But all that partying was a convenient cover for McCann'salcoholism and the drinking was his way to tamp down the trauma of abuse that hecarried with him since his teenage years. It was only when his wife Andrea Aragon gave him the ultimatum, "Stop or I'm leaving,"that McCann changed his life for good.McCannandAragon chronicle their story together in the memoirOne Good Reason.

• Life after Great Big Sea: San McCann and Andrea Aragon wrote a memoir about music, addiction and recovery

One Good ReasonisMcCannand Aragon's first book.

Shame on Meby Tessa McWatt

Tessa McWatt was born in Guyana and came to Canada when she was three years old. She grew up in Torontoand spent years living in Montreal, Paris, Ottawa and London. Her heritage isScottish, English, French, Portuguese, Indian, Amerindian, African and Chinese.Shame on Meis a memoir about identity, race and belonging by someone who spent a lot of time trying to find an answer to the question, "Who are you?" and who has endured decades of racism and bigotry while trying to figure out who she is and where she belongs.

McWatt is the author of several works of fiction. Her novels includeDragons Cry,Vital SignsandHigher Ed. She is also the co-editor of the anthologyLuminous Ink: Writers on Writing in Canada.Shame on Meis her first work of nonfiction.

Falling for Myself by Dorothy Ellen Palmer

In her memoir,Falling for Myself, Dorothy Ellen Palmer makes a passionate case for disability justice. She was born with congenital anomalies in both feet. In Falling for Myself, she depicts her coming to terms with the past and describes her discovery and embrace of activism.

• How Dorothy Ellen Palmer wrote a memoir about being in love with herself and her abilities

Dorothy Ellen Palmeris a writer, educator,accessibility consultantand activist. She is also the author of the novelWhen Fenelon Falls.

This One Looks Like a Boyby Lorimer Shenher

From childhood, Lorimer Shenher knew he was a boy, though he was being raised as a girl. InThisOne Looks Like a Boy, Shenher tells his story of struggling with gender dysphoria before finally coming to accept he is trans and undergoing surgery in his 50s.

• New book explores life-long process of understanding transgender identity

Shenher is also the author of the bookThat Lonely Section of Hell, in which he describes his experiences working on the case of serial killer Robert Pickton.

From the Ashesby Jesse Thistle

Jesse Thistle is a Mtis-Cree academic specializing in Indigenous homelessness, addiction and inter-generational trauma. For Thistle, these issues are more than just subjects on the page. After a difficult childhood, Thistle spent much of his early adulthood struggling with addiction while living on the streets of Toronto. Told in short chapters interspersedwith poetry, his memoirFrom the Ashesdetails how his issues with abandonment and addiction led to homelessness, incarceration and his eventual redemption through higher education.

• How Jesse Thistle survived addiction, homelessness and incarceration and became a bestselling author

Thistle was a recipient of the Governor General's Silver Medal in 2016.From the Ashesis his first book. George Canyon will defend From the Ashes on Canada Reads 2020.

Moments of Glad Graceby Alison Wearing

When Alison Wearing's father, Joe, is diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease, he decided to travel to Ireland to learn about his family's heritage, and invites his daughter along. Their trip ends up not only being an exploration of their family history, but also their own relationship as they grapple with Joe's declining health.Moments of Glad Graceis a memoir that chronicles this pivotal moment in both their lives.

Wearing is playwright, performer and author. Her other books includeHoneymoon in Purdah: An Iranian JourneyandConfessions of a Fairy's Daughter.Confessions of a Fairy's Daughterwas shortlisted for theEdna Staebler Award for Creative Non-Fictionand longlisted for the RBC Taylor Prize.

Older Sister. Not Necessarily Related.by Jenny Heijun Wills

Jenny Heijun Wills was born in Korea, but was adopted by a Canadian family and raised in a small town. When she was in her early 20s, she decided to travel back to Korea to meet her extended birth family and other young people who were adopted from Korea and raised abroad.Older Sister. Not Necessarily Related.shares Wills's journey and also explores the impact of being raised by a family of a different ethnicity and culture.

Older Sister. Not Necessarily Related.wonthe Hilary Weston Writers' Trust Prize for Nonfiction.

• Why Jenny Heijun Wills wrote a book about reuniting with her first family in Korea

Wills is an associate professor at the University of Winnipeg. She has co-edited two academic books.