In 'Bad Cree,' a horror mystery unfolds in the aftermath of loss and colonialism

NPR's Book of the Day

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Books, Arts

4.2 • 672 Ratings

🗓️ 26 January 2023

⏱️ 9 minutes

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Summary

Jessica Johns' thriller, Bad Cree, opens with a startling image: a severed crow's head in someone's hand. In today's episode, Johns tells NPR's Ayesha Rascoe she hoped that image would set the tone for the winding mystery within her new novel. It follows a young Cree woman who returns to a home and culture she left behind in hopes of helping her cope with grief. Much of Mackenzie's story involves her dreams, and Johns explains why she felt it was so important to honor that world – especially after a professor told her otherwise.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey, it's NPR's Book of the Day. I'm Andrew Limbaugh. I relate so much to how today's author heard one flippant comment years ago from an instructor, and it stuck with her so deeply that it drove her to write her debut novel. The book is called Bad Cree by Jessica Johns, and it's been getting stellar reviews. It's about a young
0:21.9	Kree woman whose nightmares end up bringing her back to a home she'd left behind. And Johns tells
0:27.7	M.P.R.'s Aisha Roscoe about how one time a teacher told her that writers shouldn't write about dreams,
0:33.5	and that's what inspired her to write the story. And while the dreams do serve as a gateway into the broader themes of the book,
0:39.7	you know, land, family, grief,
0:41.9	Johns argues that dreams themselves contain beauty and wonder.
0:46.5	In the U.S., national security news can feel far away from daily life.
0:51.3	Distant wars, murky conflicts, diplomacy behind closed doors on our new show,
0:56.8	Sources and Methods. NPR reporters on the ground bring you stories of real people,
1:01.6	helping you understand why distant events matter here at home.
1:05.4	Listen to sources and methods on the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts.
1:11.4	Before I look down, I know it's there.
1:15.0	The crow's head I was clutching in my dream is now in the bed with me.
1:21.0	That's the start of Bad Cree, a gripping thriller all about a young Cree woman, McKenzie,
1:27.2	who finds out what happens in her dreams, does not stay in her dreams.
1:32.3	The living nightmares send McKinsey on a journey from Vancouver to her hometown of High Prairie to face the grief and the culture she left behind.
1:42.5	Bad Cree is written by Jessica Johns, a member of Sucker Creek First Nation in northern Alberta.
1:49.2	Johns joins us now. Welcome to the program. Thank you so much. Thank you for having me.
1:54.5	So, you know, I mean, that's a really striking image to start a novel with a severed crow's head in someone's hand. Did you always
2:04.2	have that image in mind as a starting point for the story? You know, it wasn't a crow's head
2:10.6	initially. Initially, I think it was a branch. That was the opening image. I really wanted readers
2:16.2	to know what they were in for right from the bat.
	...

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