In 1956, five evangelical Christian missionaries from the U.S. ventured into the Ecuador rainforest to convert a group of indigenous people who’d had no previous contact with the outside world.

The missionaries were later killed in the attempt, but the widow of one of the men and sister of another returned, and successfully converted many of the natives.

The story is the basis for the novel by Winnipeg’s Joan Thomas called Five Wives, just named Tuesday morning as one of the winners of the prestigious Governor General’s Literary Awards.

(Canadian author Joan Thomas Photo: courtesy of Harper Collins Canada)

Thomas is the author of three previous novels. Her novel The Opening Sky was also a finalist for the Governor General’s Literary Award for fiction in 2014.

You can read more about her award winning Five Wives by clicking here.

Among the other winners of the Governor General’s Literary Awards, Don Gilmor of Toronto received the non-fiction honour for To The River; Losing My Brother and Toronto writer and scholar Gwen Benaway for her third poetry collection, Holy Wild.

Governor General Julie Payette will host a ceremony honouring the winners at Rideau Hall in Ottawa December 12th.