David Alex Jones' Latest Release!
THE NIGHT CLASS is a coming of age drama, the story of Samantha (Sam) Bower, a young university teaching assistant, who is studying hard to make a career for herself as a psychologist, while also struggling to overcome the trauma of a childhood of abuse and abandonment, and navigating a journey of self-discovery. The main story is set within the current social context of recent Residential School revelations and Canada’s need for addressing Truth and Reconciliation with its Indigenous Peoples. The secondary story is a love/hate relationship between two of the story’s main characters: Hunter, a young Indigenous student, and Terri, a middle-age Caucasian woman who has returned to university as an adult student.
Sam’s journey of self-discovery is turned upside-down when she discovers that her real father is Indigenous, at the same time that she has been tasked with trying to keep a racially mixed team of eight undergraduate students from self-destructing as they attempt to satisfactorily complete a controversial, assigned team project on Truth and Reconciliation. While the stakes for her students are whether or not they pass or fail the course, the stakes for Sam are much greater. She has been struggling with her grades in grad school, has yet to decide on a thesis project, and her career goal of teaching at a university may be in jeopardy if she fails to successfully mentor her students. The team members’ individual personality quirks soon cause tempers to flare and racial tension and emotions to boil over, creating a perfect storm of dysfunction that threatens to derail both the team and Sam's mental health.
THE NIGHT CLASS isn't just the story of Sam's coming-of-age journey: it is also a political commentary about the lack of progress to date in the Truth and Reconciliation process between Canada's Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities. The story is a layer of different metaphors for the racial mix of Canadian society, the Truth and Reconciliation process in Canada, the complicated relationship between Canada’s Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples, and the coming-of-age identity crisis that non-Indigenous Canadians are facing as they grieve their loss of innocence in the wake of the residential school fallout.
Reviews
What Readers are Saying About The Night Class
After reading The Night Class, I can better empathize with the plight of Canada’s Aboriginal peoples … I now have a different view of their circumstances.
David Alex’s treatment of our First Nations’ traditions was handled thoughtfully and respectfully.
David Alex’s main character was extremely believable … her mental health issues were treated with respect and a sensitivity that could easily have been underplayed.
David Alex presents a novel and thought-provoking idea for reconciling with Aboriginal people in Canada in The Night Class.
I agree with the author’s view that it will take a cross-section of Canadians, with differing views, to come together to create unique ideas for making reconciliation a reality.
The Night Class is a great read! I learnt so much about reconciliation that I did not know. This is an amazing method to tell the story and to address a possible solution. I just can’t put your books down!