Independent Book Reviews for Independent Readers
closely at the cover image of Come From Away (2018 Simon and Schuster). The young woman is Grace Baker, daughter of Danny and Audrey Baker, the main protagonists of Ms. Graham’s hugely successful 2015 novel Tides of Honour. Who is the young blond-haired man? See the submarine in the lower right corner? That’s supposed to be U-69 (although the image is definitely not that of a German WWII-era U-boat).… Continue reading
is encouraging to see more books (either fictional or non-fictional) being written about the Acadians and their lives and way of life before and after 1755. That was the year of “Le Grand Dérangement” when they were the victims of cultural genocide by the occupying British command and put on ships to be dispersed around the globe, never to return to their beloved Acadia. Some stayed, only to be enslaved, forced to work the land they once farmed as their own, but now for British landowners.… Continue reading
The Left-Behind Bride is #10 in the twelve book series “Canadian Historical Brides” published by BWL Publishing. Each of the Canadian Historical Brides novels features one of the ten Canadian provinces (this one is Nova Scotia) and two of the novels feature the three Canadian Territories. These novels combine fact and fiction to tell the stories of the immigrant brides and grooms who came to Canada from diverse backgrounds to join in marriage and build the foundation of the free and welcoming country that is Canada.… Continue reading
Warning! Reading this book will leave you exhausted! I was only a few chapters in when I had to put down the book and wonder aloud: “How does a seventy-year-old manage to do all this in a day?” Let me back up and explain what Sandra Phinney’s Waking Up In My Own Backyard (2017, Pottersfield Press) is all about.
Basically “Waking Up” came about as an idea to do something different -each day- for 31 days straight.… Continue reading
in 1755 at the fall of Fort Beausejour to the British, Argimou: A Legend of the Micmac first appeared in print in serialized form in The Amaranth (a New Brunswick literary journal) in 1842. It was very popular since “historical fiction was enjoying wide international popularity” at the time, according to Gwendolyn Davies informative Afterword. Sir Walter Scott’s novels were quite popular at the time and publishers were looking for similar writings to publish for their reader’s entertainment.… Continue reading
Miramichi author Doug Underhill and Nimbus Publishing have truly done the Atlantic salmon sportfishing industry a service by bringing the story of Bryant Freeman to bookshelves. A quiet, unassuming man, Mr. Freeman is well-known and loved by many who fish the Miramichi River and its tributaries. He is also well-known for his Riverview, New Brunswick fly-tying shop Eskape Anglers where, among other things, he sells his famous “Carter’s Bug” salmon fly.… Continue reading
(The following is an excerpt from a review written by Naomi MacKinnon at Consumed by Ink. It is reproduced here in part with her kind permission.)
Malagash is a gem of a book. And I can’t think of anyone I wouldn’t recommend it to.
The title of the book refers to the community where the story is set. Malagash is located along the north shore of Nova Scotia and is one of those places you can easily pass through without knowing you are there.… Continue reading
(The following review is reproduced in part by the kind permission of Naomi MacKinnon of the Consumed by Ink book review blog. – James)
at the cover of this book. It couldn’t be more stunning. With stories to match. Peninsula Sinking is David Huebert‘s first short story collection. He has won the CBC Short Story Prize, the Sheldon Currie Fiction Prize, and the Walrus Poetry Prize, and is the author of one poetry collection We Are No Longer the Smart Kids in Class (which I haven’t read).… Continue reading