Listen free for 30 days

  • Five Little Indians

  • A Novel
  • Written by: Michelle Good
  • Narrated by: Kyla Garcia
  • Length: 10 hrs and 34 mins
  • 4.7 out of 5 stars (912 ratings)

Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo + applicable taxes after 30 days. Cancel anytime.
Five Little Indians cover art

Five Little Indians

Written by: Michelle Good
Narrated by: Kyla Garcia
Try for $0.00

$14.95 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for $31.46

Buy Now for $31.46

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Tax where applicable.
activate_primeday_promo_in_buybox_DT

Publisher's Summary

WINNER: Governor General’s Literary Award for Fiction

WINNER: Amazon First Novel Awards

Finalist: Scotiabank Giller Prize

Finalist: Atwood Gibson Writers Trust Prize

Finalist: BC & Yukon Book Prize

Shortlist: Indigenous Voices Awards

Finalist: Kobo Emerging Author Prize

National Best Seller; A Globe and Mail Top 100 Book of the Year; A CBC Best Book of the Year; An Apple Best Book of the Year; A Kobo Best Book of the Year; An Indigo Best Book of the Year

Taken from their families when they are very small and sent to a remote, church-run residential school, Kenny, Lucy, Clara, Howie and Maisie are barely out of childhood when they are finally released after years of detention.

Alone and without any skills, support or families, the teens find their way to the seedy and foreign world of Downtown Eastside Vancouver, where they cling together, striving to find a place of safety and belonging in a world that doesn’t want them. The paths of the five friends cross and crisscross over the decades as they struggle to overcome, or at least forget, the trauma they endured during their years at the Mission.

Fuelled by rage and furious with God, Clara finds her way into the dangerous, highly charged world of the American Indian Movement. Maisie internalizes her pain and continually places herself in dangerous situations. Famous for his daring escapes from the school, Kenny can’t stop running and moves restlessly from job to job—through fishing grounds, orchards and logging camps—trying to outrun his memories and his addiction. Lucy finds peace in motherhood and nurtures a secret compulsive disorder as she waits for Kenny to return to the life they once hoped to share together. After almost beating one of his tormentors to death, Howie serves time in prison, then tries once again to re-enter society and begin life anew.

With compassion and insight, Five Little Indians chronicles the desperate quest of these residential school survivors to come to terms with their past and, ultimately, find a way forward.

©2020 Michelle Good (P)2020 HarperCollins Publishers

Featured Article: Finding the Canadian Voice That Speaks To You

The Canadian voice is a powerful, distinct and rich one. From the First Nations and those that have lived in Canada for generations to new immigrants, the tapestry that makes up Canada from Nova Scotia, to Toronto, Winnipeg to Vancouver and every city in between is a colourful combination of people, voices and stories. Whether you’re searching for a relatable experience or seeking to hear a new perspective of this country we love, we’ve compiled a list of 10 amazing audiobooks by Canadian authors to help you find the voice that speaks to you.

More from the same

What listeners say about Five Little Indians

Average Customer Ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    706
  • 4 Stars
    150
  • 3 Stars
    38
  • 2 Stars
    12
  • 1 Stars
    6
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    474
  • 4 Stars
    152
  • 3 Stars
    92
  • 2 Stars
    48
  • 1 Stars
    27
Story
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    671
  • 4 Stars
    83
  • 3 Stars
    28
  • 2 Stars
    7
  • 1 Stars
    1

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

great book, needs better narration

I love this book so much I've listened twice. But the second time around I noticed that the narrative voice is very "white" and Indigenous people have very distinct accents. Would have had much better listening experience if it had been narrated by an Indigenous person.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

8 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Amazing

It's truly a heart wrenching story. Sometimes hard to listen to but amazing. I recommend to everyone.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

History is Now

It took me a long time to listen to this book, with more pauses and silences then ever in audible. We keep on learning, reading, listening, and conversing.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Must Read!!

Loved this book! The different stories were masterfully woven together. An important book for all to read.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

5 stars for Five Little Indians

Through unimaginable hardship the characters stay strong in spirit. Readers will be educated intellectually and spiritually about a shameful time in Canadian history and celebrate the resilience of the indigenous people.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Heartbreakingly Good

SUCH a profound, rich and eye-opening novel. It helps so much to put things into perspective and understand the intergenerational trauma that comes from the destruction of the family unit, the language, culture, and just a simple and fundamental sense of belonging. Putting characters, faces, details and a story to what happened was so very moving and powerful.

The audio performance was excellent (she does the different character voices so well) but I really, really struggled with, how shall I say, the reader sounding very white. Her intonation and pronunciation felt stiff and formal, especially at the beginning (much less so when she read the character dialogue). I listened to an audio recording of an Inconvenient Indian read by Lorne Cardinal and it felt so much more authentic. Hearing an Indigenous story in an Indigenous voice is so much more powerful and authentic and speaks of the importance of Indigenous people telling their own story.

This novel is important to read in order to not only learn what happened to Indigenous children and families, but to FEEL what happened.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars
  • T
  • 2021-03-11

heartwarming & heartwrenching

So sad that we out people through such an experience. And I have no words for the resilience shown by these characters!

Already recommending!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Book was amazing. listen at 1.2 speed

I loved this book. I echo what some others have said the narration was a little flat on anything other than characters speaking.
But I changed the listen speed to 1.2 and It was perfect.
Just enough to change the pitch made all the difference in the world!
I would highly recommend this this read.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Heartbreaking and lovely at times

Loved listening to this book of five intertwined stories. Chapter 15 had me bawling like a baby. Trigger warning: listening to this book was really hard at times but so necessary to dive into the thoughts of young adults who are residential school survivors. The only issue I found difficult was the narrator - while mostly great, sometimes robotic-like. I appreciated the different voices and tones though - overall a great listen.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

great book

This book is profound and devastating, but should be read by everyone.
The narration, however, was awful. Not sure if it was directed that way, but for the most part it was like an automaton was reading it.....not sure if that was the point (the characters in this book are traumatized), but listening to it was a bit of a torture test, except that the book itself was soooooo good.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!