The Restless Nomad is the autobiography of Alice/Masak French, an Inuit woman from the Mackenzie River Delta region. Her remarkable narrative begins in 1944 when her father arrives at the Anglican residential school in Aklavik to take Alice back to her new family. Alice resided in the school from the age of six until fourteen. She is barely able to communicate in Inupeak with her father's new wife and her siblings. In fact her stepsister wonders why there is a new girl living with them. Alice faces many challenges including relationships with her family, and learning the simplest of tasks required by people who live on the land. Residential school did not prepare her to sew mukluks, drive a dog team or cut firewood. Alice's life story parallels the changes overtaking the Inuit at this time. Her opening chapters deal with the rhythm of the changing seasons and include her grandmother's attempt to arrange her marriage. Alice begins to readapt to her environment and takes charge of her siblings when her stepmother goes for tuberculosis treatment in a southern hospital. Alice weaves a matter of fact story that focus on her challenges to reenter the Inuit culture. This is an important document of the historical and cultural changes to her family and community. In the early chapters Alice recounts her life from the perspective of a fourteen-year-old girl. Her ability to capture the personal mindset and attitudes is achieved with humour and poignancy. Her anger and frustration with the loss of language is apparent as she explores the personal legacy of residential schooling. Her life story covers her two marriages, loss of children, travels with her RCMP husband and ends in 1979 as she prepares to live in Ireland on her husband's family farm. Her voice throughout the narrative remains strong despite her bouts of depression and the death of two children. Alice French wrote her story as a way for her children to understand her Inuit heritage. This autobiography enriches our understanding of the Inuit and the legacy of residential schools. Recommended for senior elementary and secondary students as well as college and university.