Three of these books were inspired by the conjunction between my own shelves and this year's Random House Bingo, which has a CanLit theme. The Tiger Claw filled my Nominated-for-the-Giller square, Evan Munday's second October Schwartz for the Mystery-or-Thriller square, and Elaine Lui's book about her relationship with her mother
What I was not carrying in my bookbag this month: David Mitchell's Ghostwritten, Shauna Singh Baldwin's The Tiger Claw and the third volume in G.R.R. Martin's Ice and Fire series. These hefty volumes stayied at home, but these slimmer books were travelling this month. And there was more to-ing and fro-ing this month
Our young separatist narrator is imagining his own future and the future of Quebec, and both man and nation are struggling with matters of expression and independence, in Hubert Aquin's Next Episode (published in 1965, translated by Sheila Fischman in 2001). “I am the fragmented symbol of Quebec’s revolution, its
She tells you straight-up: "The decision when to begin a family story is arbitrary." HarperPerennial, 2015 (US edition) And she lays out the doubts and uncertainties: "Who am I to claim the official version?" And, so, Alison Pick is our seemingly uncertain and unsanctioned guide. But, she also
Despite its sedate and unassuming cover, Pauline Holdstock's The Hunter and the Wild Girl begins in a rush. Goose Lane, 2015 "With a shriek of splintering boards, the girl breaks into daylight and stands blinded, panting, sucking air as if it were a great hot soup, her chest
