“Michelle Baker has created a memorable gem of a story in The Canoe. Her sparse, evocative use of language engages the senses and the interplay of themes of love, loss, fate and faith engages the mind. This little book is worth reading and reading again.”
—Anne Hillerman, author, Spider Woman’s Daughter
“In The Canoe, Michelle Baker’s words compel us to feel the fragility and impermanence of life. She exposes our vulnerability and juxtaposes it with a vivid appreciation for the sweetness and sensuality of our human experience. Thus, creative tension flows.”
–Michael J. Gelb, author, How to Think Like Leonardo Da Vinci and Creativity On Demand: How to Ignite and Sustain the Fire of Genius
“Poetic and mysterious, Michelle Baker’s first novel evokes the simplicity of centuries past — and through that simplicity, the reader is brought deeply into the thoughts and emotions of the characters.”
–Katherine Mayfield, author, The Box of Daughter and Bullied
“Sometimes a story loses none of its magic in the telling, and that is the case with the remarkable work, The Canoe. Michelle Baker’s mesmerizing prose places readers in peril in terrifying, exhilarating ways that are rare in contemporary literature. In this book’s converging stories of wild love and unimaginable loss, the author has conjured the human tribe at the moment of wonder when we open our arms to life and at the moment of awe when we open them to the embrace of death.”
–Kevin McIlvoy, author, The Complete History of New Mexico & Other Stories, Hyssop, Little Peg, and The Fifth Station.
“Pure poetry in motion. A swift-moving, heartfelt tale of love and loss, two stories intersecting—and connecting—by magic. Michelle Baker is a born poet, and a born writer. The Canoe is just the start of what I hope to be a long idyllic journey through the love and soul of the human heart.”
–Trent Zelazny, author, People Person, and To Sleep Gently
