Kiss of the Fur Queen is a skillfully orchestrated work which scours the reader to the bone. Tomson Highway weaves the many threads that are the life of Gabriel Okimasis, modelled on this own brother Renee Highway, to draw us into the journey he makes from a magically retold birth through a life of both joy and degredation, to a mystical leave taking in a hospital room where fire alarms, religious acrimony and burning sweet grass hold the body while the Fur Queen takes the spirit.

The story is told through the eyes of Jeremiah, Gabriel’s older brother. This perspective allows one to look at Gabriel's life once removed, but only though the filters of Jeremiah's own biases, fears and hopes. His brother's death is the catalyst for Jeremiah to begin to confront the repressed knowings he has about his own life. In the classical sense, Gabriel's tragic death provides a catharsis for Jeremiah; in an aboriginal sense, the Trickster winks and says, “Get on with it.” –Annie Smith