We are thankful for and enriched by the contributions all Indigenous Peoples have made and continue to make in shaping and strengthening this community. As people who live and work in Kitchener, we aim to renew our accountability to those Indigenous Nations and all Indigenous Peoples and Communities living in Canada and around the world today. We recognize and deeply appreciate Indigenous Peoples’ historical and ongoing connection to the land.

We acknowledge that this land is part of the Haldimand Tract, an area that includes six miles on either side of the Grand River and that was promised to the Haudenosaunee Six Nations and other Indigenous allies in 1784. Told in a highly original voice, with a captivating heroine readers will love and root for, Big Girl, Small Town will appeal to fans of Sally Rooney, Ottessa Moshfegh, and accessible literary fiction with an edge.As we gather, we are reminded that Kitchener Public Library and all of its locations are settled on land that is the traditional home of the Chonnonton (Chi-nawn-ton), Anishinaabe (Ah-ni-shnah-bay) and Haudenosaunee (Ho-deh-no-show-nee). In fact, there just may be a whole big world outside her small town. When Majella's predictable existence is upended by the death of her granny, she comes to realize there may be more to life than the gossips of Aghybogey, the pub, and the chip shop.

She wears the same clothes each day (overalls, too small), has the same dinner each night (fish and chips, microwaved at home after her shift ends), and binge-watches old DVDs of the same show ( Dallas, best show on TV) from the comfort of her bed.īut underneath Majella's seemingly ordinary life are the facts that she doesn't know where her father is and that every person in her town has been changed by the lingering divide between Protestants and Catholics. She lives a quiet life caring for her alcoholic mother, working in the local chip shop, watching the regular customers come and go.

Majella is happiest out of the spotlight, away from her neighbors' stares and the gossips of the small town in Northern Ireland where she grew up just after the Troubles. Meet Majella O'Neill, a heroine like no other, performed by Nicola Coughlan, star of Derry Girls. SHORTLISTED FOR THE COSTA FIRST NOVEL AWARDįINALIST FOR THE IRISH BOOK AWARD FOR NEWCOMER OF THE YEARįINALIST FOR THE COMEDY WOMEN IN PRINT PRIZE

Public library audiobooks