If a story's beginning looks at its reflection in a room made of mirrors, does it see its own beginning-self reflected back? Or is the reflection actually the story's ending? Hamish Hamilton, 2016 This is the kind of question that I can imagine keeps Jay Hosking up late
It might seem to be, at first glance, a quintessential CanLit passage, a poetic description of the natural world. Linda Leith Publishing, 2016 But the opening passage of The Company of Crows reveals more about Karen Molson's debut novel, than one might think. "Thin grey lines fan out across the
A white elephant was historically bestowed as a burden which had the outward appearance of a gift; a courtier charged with its care and upkeep would have a beautiful creature to display, but the weight of the responsibility undeniable. Freehand Books, 2016 In Catherine Cooper's debut novel, the question
It's with a subtle touch, but Nadia Bozak solidly roots the reader in time and place. House of Anansi, 2016 This is not an easy task, because Shell only grows to the age of seventeen in Thirteen Shells -- across thirteen stories, and childhood is inherently rootless. So the details
Lynda Barry says a “happy ending is hardly important, though we may be glad it’s there”. But there’s more to it, she says: “The real joy is knowing that if you felt the trouble in the story, your kingdom isn’t dead.”* Doubleday Canada, 2015 If one reads a
