Alison Watt’s Dazzle Patterns (2017)

2017-10-25T13:21:19-04:00

The thing with an explosion is that it comes out of nowhere. And that's exactly what happens in Alison Watt's debut novel. Even though I knew that the 1917 event was at the heart of this Halifax story, I was completely absorbed in Clare and Fred's ordinary workday at

Alison Watt’s Dazzle Patterns (2017)2017-10-25T13:21:19-04:00

Mary-Rose MacColl’s In Falling Snow (2012)

2024-02-08T13:11:06-05:00

It begins with a short but vividly drawn scene: two lovers alone in a room in Paris in 1917. Sensorily rich and broadly sketched: the reader is immediately engaged. Not only by the substance, but by a couple of unexpected phrases therein: questions arise. Those questions are soon set aside

Mary-Rose MacColl’s In Falling Snow (2012)2024-02-08T13:11:06-05:00

Ian Thornton’s The Great and Calamitous Tale of Johan Thoms (2013)

2014-03-23T08:40:43-04:00

Everything I know about the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand, which precipitated WWI, I learned from fiction. First, Aleksandar Hemon's short story, "The Accordian", which explores the very moment of the shots' impact, inspired by the presence of a bystander. This man seems to be the author's grandfather, standing in the

Ian Thornton’s The Great and Calamitous Tale of Johan Thoms (2013)2014-03-23T08:40:43-04:00

Timothy Findley’s The Wars (1977)

2014-03-20T19:58:47-04:00

"In the lane, I had already lost a boot and fallen on my knees so that now my trousers were soaked and one of my socks was sodden and the bottoms of both my sleeves were freezing against my wrists." Harper Collins, 1990 This is Timothy Findley, writing

Timothy Findley’s The Wars (1977)2014-03-20T19:58:47-04:00

Cicely Hamilton’s William (1919)

2014-03-09T15:51:46-04:00

Cicely Hamilton's William: An Englishman Persephone No. 1 (1919) Persephone Books, 1999 When I finish my current Persephone read, Monica Dickens' Mariana, I'll have read one-fifth of their books, but it was the announcement of their Forum's launch that took me to the first of their publications. My orderly nature

Cicely Hamilton’s William (1919)2014-03-09T15:51:46-04:00
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