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  • Red River Girl

  • The Life and Death of Tina Fontaine
  • Written by: Joanna Jolly
  • Narrated by: Penelope Rawlins
  • Length: 9 hrs and 2 mins
  • 4.6 out of 5 stars (89 ratings)

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Red River Girl cover art

Red River Girl

Written by: Joanna Jolly
Narrated by: Penelope Rawlins
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Publisher's Summary

National best seller

A gripping account of the unsolved death of an Indigenous teenager, and the detective determined to find her killer, set against the backdrop of a troubled city.

On August 17, 2014, the body of 15-year old runaway Tina Fontaine was found in Winnipeg's Red River. It was wrapped in material and weighted down with rocks. Red River Girl is a gripping account of that murder investigation and the unusual police detective who pursued the killer with every legal means at his disposal. The audiobook, like the movie Spotlight, chronicles the behind-the-scenes stages of a lengthy and meticulously planned investigation. It reveals characters and social tensions that bring vivid life to a story that made national headlines. 

Award-winning BBC reporter and documentary maker Joanna Jolly delves into the troubled life of Tina Fontaine, the half-Ojibway, half-Cree murder victim, starting with her childhood on the Sagkeeng First Nation Reserve. Tina's journey to the capital city is a harrowing one, culminating in drug abuse, sexual exploitation, and death. 

Aware of the reality of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls, Jolly has chronicled Tina Fontaine's life as a reminder that she was more than a statistic. Raised by her father, and then by her great-aunt, Tina was a good student. But the violent death of her father hit Tina hard. She ran away, was found and put into the care of Child and Family Services, which she also sought to escape from. That choice left her in danger. 

Red River Girl focuses not on the grisly event itself, but on the efforts to seek justice. In December 2015, the police charged Raymond Cormier, a drifter, with second-degree murder. Jolly's audiobook will cover the trial, which resulted in an acquittal. The verdict caused dismay across the country. 

The audiobook is not only a true crime story, but a portrait of a community where Indigenous women are disproportionately more likely to be hurt or killed. Jolly asks questions about how Indigenous women, sex workers, community leaders, and activists are fighting back to protect themselves and change perceptions. Most importantly, the audiobook will chronicle whether Tina's family will find justice.

©2019 Joanna Jolly (P)2019 Viking

What the critics say

"Tina Fontaine brought international attention to the tragedy of missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls, and two-spirit folks. This retelling of her life and the investigation into her death is a breathtaking account of the fight to find justice for Tina." (Wab Kinew, leader of the Manitoba NDP and author of The Reason You Walk)

What listeners say about Red River Girl

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

Hard to Hear but Important

This was a really emotional read. I remember hearing Tina's name in the news, but I never really followed the story at the time.

It's heartbreaking to not know 100% what Tina's true story was, but whether or not the Winnipeg Police got the right guy or not, they got a truly bad man, and it was incredible to read about the effort that they went into this investigation.

This book centered mainly on the investigation and not so much on the other aspect of this case which was the systemic racism of Indigenous People, particularly woman and the broken relationship they have with police officers. I am slowly starting to grasp a more accurate picture of this myself and reading between the lines you can see that outlined here, but it was only a few paragraphs, a few side notes to the main narrative which was clearly trying to make this more of a true crime novel, maybe because that's what's more popular right now.

All in all, I highly recommend this as essential reading for any Canadian, especially to those who look down at our southern neighbors and think we are so much better up here. We too still have a lot of work to do.

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3 people found this helpful

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

Factual engagement with disappointment

This is an engaging story of the life and death of Tina Fountain; yet after the build up it ended in disappointment with the verdict and the investigation team's resignation.

There was positivity in how the family and community responded with continuing her legacy.This and the education on the Indigenous realities in the prairies of Canada gave it a 4.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

One Day Listen

This story was so gripping and so well written that I listened to the whole thing in under 24 hours. I started it while driving home one evening and ended up staying awake until 2am because I just HAD to know what happened and whether or not Tina got the justice she deserved. Not only is this a captivating story of Tina's life, but the replaying of the many ways systems failed to protect her emphasizes the difficulties and injustices the indigenous communities of Canada face every day. I hope this book helps to bring attention to these issues that are so easily ignored.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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  • LC
  • 2020-08-01

Well told story of an innocent young girl

This book tugged at every single one of my heart strings. Everyone should listen/read it and then we all need to do something to stop the killing of young indigenous people.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
  • Ob
  • 2023-09-07

Excellent read/listen

I couldn't put it down. I really enjoyed the author's storytelling as it really painted a picture of what people felt or saw at this time. This book is about a very sensitive topic and I felt that the writer did their best to convey that. I highly recommend.

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

A Moving Recollection of the Events

This case was covered and narrated very well and feels as though it can be seen not just heard. Even more so, it can be felt as we are brought through the life and unfortunate death of Tina. Subsequently-A necessary and troubling sense of the reality around the deep concerns of racism, broken communities/families, intergenerational traumas and the injustices for unsupported indigenous peoples, youth, the vulnerable and our young women.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Wow!

What an amazing listen!! Being from Winnipeg, I remember when this story broke and the sadness and outrage that followed. Author writes this story beautifully and its perfectly narrated as well! I listed to it in one sitting, I just couldn't put it away.

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

Her story had to be told!

I thought this book was written very well. It drew me in from the beginning and held my attention to the end. This is a tragic yet all to common ending of a young indigenous girls life. I pray that the next generation of our children never know racism and justice comes for all the missing and murdered indigenous woman.

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

Needs a different narrator.

I am from the area of Sagkeeng and Winnipeg and we don't have accents of England.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Great read

I never knew much about what actually happened to Tina. I am moved by this book. I am proud of our people and how we come together to stand for our girls and women that go missing and or murder.

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