Given by Susan Musgrave Published by Thistledown Press Review by Hannah Muhajarine $19.95 ISBN 978-1-927068-02-1 Susan Musgrave has created a story that is both beautiful and heart-wrenching. Given continues where Cargo of Orchids, Musgrave’s previous novel, left off, but it is as welcoming to new readers as it is to old. Indeed, those who discover Given will no doubt be pleased to find that in Cargo, they can learn the full story of the narrator’s intriguing past. The narrator, who remains unnamed, escapes from prison at the beginning of the novel and travels back to her home on an island in B.C. In this small community there are many protestors, a Christian vegetable salesman, a ‘Church of the Holy Brew’, and a café that serves a ‘Philosophical Chicken special’. There is humour, but the majority of it is dark, suitable for the novel’s themes of poverty, addiction, and grief. The narrator is haunted, literally, by the ghosts of her two friends from Death Row. Although they are dead, Frenchy and Rainy are incredibly vibrant. They speak in a witty and inventive slang, speaking disturbing truth using many original turns of phrase. The journey is very much an inner, emotional one,…

The Anatomy of Edouard Beaupré: A Story by Sarah Kathryn York Published by Coteau Books Review by Keith Foster $16.95 ISBN 13:978155050774 Reading The Anatomy of Edouard Beaupré is like venturing into The Twilight Zone. The novel is so well researched and written that it’s hard to tell where facts leave off and fiction begins. Beaupré, the eldest of 20 children, was indeed real. Author Sarah Kathryn York adds further realism to her novel by introducing actual historical characters such as Canadian strongman Louis Cyr. It was impossible for Beaupré to remain inconspicuous. Known as the Willow Bunch Giant, standing at eight feet, three inches, he stood out like a redwood tree in a wheat field. He was still growing when he died at age 23. His size made him an object of ridicule and exploitation throughout his short life. Even in death, he was not free from abuse. His corpse went on public display in a store window in St. Louis, Missouri, and again as an exhibit at the University of Montreal. York revels in imagery, saying that “rags of clouds scrubbed the sky.” A master of metaphor and simile, she peppers her story with literary devices. She describes…

Angel of Thanksgiving by Henry Ripplinger, Published by Pio-Seelos Books Review by Gail Jansen-Kesslar $21.95 ISBN 9 780986 542473 While Angel of Thanksgiving, the third in Henry Ripplinger’s proposed five-part Angelic Letters Series, still revolves around the separation of star-crossed lovers Henry and Jenny and their doomed romance, unlike the feelings evoked by the past two books, this time Ripplinger leaves the reader feeling torn about what the fateful outcome of the two should ultimately be. With the introduction of a whole new set of characters, from Henry’s wife, the lovely and serene Julean who we briefly met in Book Two, to the bright and cheerful household staff that are more like family to Jenny than employees, the parallel lives of Henry and Jenny are showcased over a vast period of time as they grow and mature and ultimately become parents themselves. And as always, deeply woven throughout the story, are the life lessons that Ripplinger releases with expert timing. Much as David Chilton created the story of a thrifty barber who doled out financial advice to individuals at different periods in their financial lives in his Canadian bestseller The Wealthy Barber, so too has Ripplinger created a story that…

Pewter Angels by Henry Ripplinger Published by Pio-Seelos Books Review by Gail Jansen $21.95 CDN 9 780986 542411 The first in Ripllinger’s five-part Angelic Letters Series, Pewter Angels sets the stage for the tragic but uplifting love story of Henry and Jenny, two young lovers who in an almost modern day Romeo and Juliet are separated by those who think they know best. This novel is set in a simpler time and place: it was a time before cell phones, email or Facebook, when our reliance on simpler methods of communication was both a blessing and a curse. When someone on the other side of the world can be both seen and heard in an instant, it’s hard for us to fathom a world without communication. However, when circumstances dictate that Henry and Jenny be separated, with many unanswered letters between them, they’re forced to rely only on their faith, both in God and in one another, to see them through. As Ripplinger’s first novel, Pewter Angels has an unhurried pacing not typical of inexperienced writers. This pacing helps slow the reader down and give them a lesson in patience, just as Henry’s own mentor, Mr. Engelmann, repeatedly tries to…

Another Angel of Love by Henry Ripplinger Published by Pio-Seelos Books Review by Gail Jansen $21.95 ISBN: 978-0-9865424-2-8 The second in the five-part Angelic Letters Series, Another Angel of Love is a book that is more than able to stand all on its own, as it continues the story of Henry and Jenny and the stories of the people that surround them. This is less a novel that preaches, and more one that shares its knowledge, no matter what your faith or religious beliefs. The lessons on love, human kindness, and life that are expertly interwoven throughout this tale are ones that hold true across the spectrum of humanity. Like a good wine, a good author often takes time to develop to his or her full potential, but Ripplinger, despite his newness to the craft, seems to have avoided many of the pitfalls of new writers, who often leave their readers to struggle through a story with a good premise but poor delivery. Instead, he has somehow managed to combine both the freshness of a new voice with the maturity of great storyteller. While Another Angel of Love is billed as a romance, Ripplinger’s willingness to tackle so many difficult…

Bone Coulee: a Novel by Larry Warwaruk Published by Coteau Books Review by Leeann Minogue $19.95 ISBN-13: 9781550504590 The plot of Larry Warwaruk’s Bone Coulee centers on a heinous crime committed more than sixty years ago. Mac Chorniak, a retired farmer with a passion for Ukrainian poetry, is still haunted by the senseless crime he and his friends committed against a young First Nations athlete when they were teenagers. There was no punishment at the time, but Chorniak can’t forget the senseless violence. He doesn’t know that the First Nations woman who’s moved into the house next door was part of the same incident, and has a score to settle. Throughout the novel, history grates on the present as characters try to decide what should be celebrated and what should be forgotten. The small-town residents stage a celebration to commemorate an old-time wagon trail, but also witness the destruction of the town’s last standing grain elevator. Landowners near Bone Coulee hunt for native arrowheads and display them in their basements, but have few personal relationships with real-life First Nations people. A young First Nations woman whose mother was sent to residential school learns her people’s traditions at university. As well…

Flyways by Devin Krukoff Published by Thistledown Press Ltd. Review by Cindy Wilson $19.95 ISBN 978-1-897235-77-5 Devin Krukoff has found a very unique way to introduce each of the characters in his novel. By using a short anecdote of a specific bird and its activities we are given a hint about each character in the story and their situation in life. In each chapter the small glimpse we are shown of each person’s existence is very significant. The author makes us feel that we know these characters on a personal level. We see how each character either has some tenuous, or very strong relationship, to another character in the story. The connection between specific events and an array of individuals illustrates the idea that there really is only six degrees of separation,and in some cases possibly less, between everyone in society. Krukoff’s novel encompasses a very wide range of human experience. He delves into family relationships where husbands, wives, and children are often disconnected and in distress. His characters are from all levels of society. Their actions and reactions to the situations they find themselves in reminds us how life can change in an instant. One example the author uses…

Letters to Omar by Rachel Wyatt Published by Coteau Books Review by Sharon Adam $21.00 ISBN 978-1-55050-448-4 Letters To Omar is a novel by Rachel Wyatt which revolves around three lifelong friends as they plan a dinner for a charity supporting Afghan civilians. Dorothy writes intimate fantasy letters to Omar Sharif and other notable people, none of which are sent. The letters attract the attention of a publisher, newly arrived from Europe and looking for his first project. Add to the mix an estranged husband looking to return, a daughter who returns from a self-imposed exile and other family chaos and you have the beginning of a story that will surprise and delight. Family is a huge part of the story: we feel Delphine’s confusion as her son leaves home for Afghanistan, not as a soldier but as a volunteer aid worker. We feel her guilty delight of having her home to herself, and resentment when a visiting cousin ruins that sense of privacy. People do odd things, sometimes in the face of common sense and the advise of friends. We are not always in control of our emotions and the heart doesn’t always agree with the head. Eventually we…

The Beautiful Children by Michael Kenyon Published by Thistledown Press Review by Shelley A. Leedahl $18.95 ISBN 978-1-897235-47-8 I’ve just finished The Beautiful Children, a poetic novel by BC writer Michael Kenyon, and feel I’m waking from a trance. In Kenyon’s mystifying story one’s never quiet sure what’s real and what’s imagined, or how the author – who hass previously published four books of fiction and two poetry collections – manages to shape-shift this harrowing tale about urban street kids and lost adults into a book that celebrates life. That sleight-of-hand, Kenyon’s musical language, and the book’s surrealistic qualities are its charms. The plot is easiest to follow in the first of the book’s three sections. Sapporo, a Japanese man, awakes with amnesia and finds himself in a hospital. In time he leaves the hospital with his son, a boy of ten. The awkward pair play catch, and at home, the uneasy roommates are “two animals who were shy of each other.” Sapporo regularly sees a therapist, but as time progresses he sinks further into his dreamlike world. He tracks the passing of time and records impressions but doesn’t understand their meaning. And he has no idea how to parent:…

Red Smoke Rising by Rick Anthony Published by Basket Case Publishing Review by Rudolf Sandmeier $10.99 ISBN: 978-0-9866661-0-0 When I first heard of Rick Anthony’s Red Smoke Rising it was described to me as “a good rip of a read” and it did not disappoint. Each chapter is a rapid sequence of action-packed episodes and builds to a climax that takes the reader on a roller-coaster ride, zipping through its course. There is always the risk in books that move at this pace that the reader could be simply overwhelmed by the plot. However, Anthony handles this element admirably and is able to keep everything rolling together quite smoothly. Somewhat conversely, another reason why the novel is successful is the economy of language Anthony employs – while he has a lot going on he doesn’t use an excess of words to describe the action. These two characteristics combine to benefit the novel as a whole – Red Smoke Rising clocks in at over 300 pages but it simply doesn’t feel that long when reading it. In the end, Anthony’s efforts have produced a well-balanced and efficient work. We’re plunked down in the middle of the action as the novel begins…