Astra by Cedar Bowers Toronto: Penguin Random House (McClelland & Stewart), 2021 $24.95 / 9780771012891 Reviewed by Brett Josef Grubisic * As a spectral visitor to western Canada in the 1970s, Karl Marx would have rolled his eyes at Celestial Farm. Or, more likely, he would have written an article denouncing it — barely a…
Read more 1138 Cariboo counterculture
The Memory Collectors by Kim Neville Toronto: Simon and Schuster Canada (Atria Books), 2021 $23.00 / 9781982157586 Reviewed by Misao Dean * I am a bit of a packrat. I can’t resist flea market tables and antique stores crowded with “stuff.” Often the things that appeal to me are not particularly valuable – vintage bar…
Read more 1133 A museum for feelings
The Last Exiles by Ann Shin Toronto: HarperCollins (Park Row Books), 2021 $16.99 / 9780778312017 Reviewed by Theo Dombrowski * Stepping into the first few pages of Ann Shin’s The Last Exiles, some readers may feel they’ve entered the recognizable world of dystopian fiction. After all, this is a world “where women in skirt suits…
Read more 1130 A docudrama of defection
Hurry Home by Roz Nay Toronto: Simon and Schuster Canada, 2020 $24.99 / 9781501184826 Reviewed by Miranda Marini * Sisters are often described as having a transcendental and unbreakable bond based in their shared experiences, friendship, and love for each other. However, the same cannot be said for the Van Ness sisters in Roz Nay’s…
Read more 1129 A tale of two sisters
The Good Father by Wayne Grady Toronto: Penguin Random House (Doubleday Canada), 2021 $24.95 / 9780385694667 Reviewed by Ginny Ratsoy * Readers with a predilection for touching, even heartbreaking, plots served up with a good measure of satire and acerbic one-liners will be satiated by the latest from UBC professor Wayne Grady. Set in 2009-2010,…
Read more 1126 Retreat, rescue, repair
Greek Mythology: The Gods, Goddesses, and Heroes Handbook, From Aphrodite to Zeus, a Profile of Who’s Who in Greek Mythology by Liv Albert, illustrated by Sara Richard Toronto: Simon & Schuster (Adams Media), 2021 $22.99 / 9781507215494 Reviewed Linda Rogers * “He said, she said.” Oral storytelling is like court evidence without benefit of cell…
Read more 1125 Greek myths for the age of anime
Burning the Night by Glen Huser Edmonton: NeWest Press, 2021 $19.95 / 9781774390115 Reviewed by Brett Josef Grubisic * A novel with history on its mind, Burning the Night opens confidently as an attractive series of images and striking narrative portions: fictional Yarrow, Alberta in post-war Canada; an inquisitive, artistic youth residing in a house…
Read more 1123 Roots & effects of obsession
House of Crows by Edeana Malcolm Vancouver: Three Ocean Press, 2020 $24.95 / 9781988915265 Reviewed by Valerie Green * If you are a fan of British Columbia’s early history, especially pertaining to the capital city of Victoria, or if you simply love all history as a history buff, you will definitely enjoy House of Crows…
Read more 1118 The housemaid of Point Ellice
Universal Disorder by Bernice Friesen Calgary: Freehand Books, 2020 $22.95 / 9781988298559 Reviewed by Heather Graham * This is a novel about a boy’s journey to adulthood, a description that suggests it belongs in that category of narratives known as coming-of-age stories. But for Charlie Vicaryous, who has Asperger’s syndrome, his journey is more of…
Read more 1111 A mathematician’s progress
The Library of Legends by Janie Chang Toronto: HarperCollins Canada, 2020 $22.99 / 9781443456050 Reviewed by Valerie Green * The year is 1937. The place is eastern China. The story of The Library of Legends by Janie Chang is a true account of the evacuation of university students from the city of Nanking across thousands…
Read more 1094 Escape from Nanking, 1937
Lost Immunity by Daniel Kalla Toronto: Simon & Schuster Canada, 2021 $22.00 / 9781982150150 Reviewed by Tom Koppel * “I’m only requesting a few thousand doses,” says Lisa Dyer, an epidemiologist who is Seattle’s chief public health officer. “To vaccinate the people at the highest risk. Direct contacts, health-care workers, and people living nearest to…
Read more 1092 Big pharma & the anti-vaxxers
Hearing More Voices: English-Canadian Women in Print and on the Air, 1914-1960 by Peggy Lynn Kelly and Carole Gerson Ottawa: Borealis Press, 2020 $24.95 / 9781896133713 Reviewed by Phyllis Reeve * As a library school student in the mid 1970s I was told that Anne of Green Gables could not be considered a Canadian classic;…
Read more 1085 A balanced cultural herstory
SHORT STORY: Friendiversary by Jennifer Moss * Introduction. This story reimagines a thousand-year-old love affair. Peter Abelard, a philosopher and tutor, fell in love with his student, Heloise. They wrote reams of letters and poetry, and made love in all kinds of scandalous places from convent kitchens to Heloise’s uncle’s house. When they were inevitably…
Read more 1083 Friendiversary
Dominoes at the Crossroads by Kaie Kellough Montreal: Véhicule Press (Esplanade Books), 2020 $19.95 / 9781550655315 Reviewed by Natalie Lang * The time has long past when only one community’s work would be required to cure what ails us. — Zadie Smith, from Intimations: Six Essays (2020) In a time when uncertainty stands at the forefront…
Read more 1082 Black Canadian ancestry & identity
The Beguiling by Zsuzsi Gartner Toronto: Penguin Random House Canada (Hamish Hamilton), 2020 $29.95 / 9780735239357 Reviewed by Jessica Poon * Motherhood is difficult and often unrewarding. Before I am besieged with outrage at how motherhood offers a profound experience unlike any other, please reread that sentence: I said often, not always. A statement need…
Read more 1079 Motherhood and talking plants
Unravelling by Josephine Boxwell Montreal: Guernica Editions, 2020 $20.00 / 9781771835442 Reviewed by Ginny Ratsoy * As Vivian, the elder of two protagonists in Unravelling, says, “Small towns shrink to the size of fishbowls when it comes to gossip” (p. 53). Perhaps the fishbowl metaphor partly explains why, although the past several decades have seen…
Read more 1073 Gossip, sagebrush, & injustice
INTERVIEW: Luke Inglis with Nathaniel G. Moore * Born in Malawi, Luke Inglis spent his childhood skipping between British Columbia and Africa. When not lost in the deep woods, he can be found at his day job as a professional book slinger. He lives on the Sunshine Coast in BC with his dog Floyd. Something Drastic…
Read more 1064 Sunshine Coast exchange
Lost Time by Winona Kent St Ives, UK: Blue Devil Books, 2020 $19.99 / 9781777329419 Reviewed by Miranda Marini * Mistaken identity, car chases, and thunderstorms run rampant in this thrilling continuation in the Jason Davey mysteries. As the third instalment in this collection, Winona Kent’s Lost Time follows Jason Davey, an amateur investigator by…
Read more 1061 Mystery & folk music nostalgia
In Search of a Happy Ending by Rosa Jordan Martinsville, VA: Propertius Press, 2020 $18.95 (U.S.) / 9781716707919 Reviewed by Ron Verzuh * Cheesecake and Castro’s Confidant: Rossland novelist offers musings on relationships, the environment, and social justice issues “People love happy endings,” says a character in Rosa Jordan’s third novel. But “they will gladly…
Read more 1058 Cheesecake and Castro’s confidant
The Swap by Robyn Harding Toronto: Simon & Schuster, 2020 $24.99 / 9781982144760 Reviewed by Jessica Poon * The Swap by Robyn Harding is that cocktail you’re embarrassed to order, decide to order after going around and saying “Fuck it, I deserve to have some fun; there’s no such thing as a guilty pleasure in…
Read more 1057 A salacious romp