I found out this existed because it was on Barack Obama's best books of 2022 list, and then showed up in Canada Reads. I'm not sure how I missed it coming out, because I think I was reading Beaton's comics while still working out in the oil sands. Anyway, a graphic-novel memoir of the two years Beaton spent working around Fort Mac, AB, in order to pay off the student loans from her liberal arts degree, and how much not fun that was.

Mostly it covers how the camps up there are a meat grinder of human bodies and souls, along with the environment. Beaton is one of about three women working in the isolated camp at any given time, and the sexual harassment and assaults are relentless. It's pretty dark compared to her usual stuff, though not free of humour or moments of beauty (which, to be honest, mostly underscore how fucking bleak the rest of it is). What disturbs Beaton most is how inhumane the place makes the men, who are largely from the Maritimes like her, often family men who could be her own father, some illiterate having been spat out by the collapse of other extractive industries before washing up in Alberta. Beaton constantly asks are they like this because of this place? Are they different at home? The book is punctuated by endless meaningless safety briefings, while the substance abuse and mental health crises go as unaddressed as the mistreatment of women.

So, yeah, fun times! But I thought it was beautifully written in its understanding of how the men (and women, to some extent) there are people who could be kinder, if given a chance at a different life. In that sense, the bleakness of the setting also lets the moments where people are kind, or generous, or even heroic shine more brightly. Despite the dystopian setting, the book never feels like it's without hope.