World War II. Christians. Jews. Nazis. Poles. Families destroyed, separated, torn apart. These are the background themes to Renate Krakauer’s debut novel Only by Blood (Inanna Publications, 2015). The story ferries back and forth between the past and present as different cultures, faiths and families intersect.
When Islandport Press sent me a copy of Ghost Buck to review, I was a little apprehensive about reading it for it is centered around an activity I have never participated in: deer hunting. I’m not even much of an outdoors person, but this book is not in actuality about hunting or wilderness skills. It is chiefly about family and the traditions that they cherish.
Sean Donovan is a freelance thief, and he has been quite successful at it. With his IT security background and some shady friends, he manages to do very well. However, he is getting close to the point where a conscience is starting to take seed. He questions how much longer he can go on in this line of work.
Lately I have reviewed several books either about or by First Nations people. Hence, the title Speak to Me in Indian (Baraka Books, 2015) caught my attention. The author David Gidmark has spent considerable time living among the Algonquin people of northern Quebec (he currently lives in Maniwaki, QC) and this is his first novel.
According to statistics released by the American Veteran’s Administration, U.S. WWII veterans are dying at the rate of 492 per day. The numbers are likely similar for Canadian service personnel. Either way, in a few years there won’t be many veterans left. Perhaps that is why interest in the Second World War seems to be increasing, …
Chuck Bowie is the New Brunswick author of three novels, all in the “Sean Donovan: Thief for Hire” series. He has just released Book Three: “Steal it All“. Chuck took a few moments to answer my questions about his influences, where and when his Sean Donovan character was born, and how Book Four is coming …
It’s never easy to review a book that is primarily photographs. Photographs are always beautiful, especially if they are of nature and other things that are naturally beautiful in themselves. But old, rusty abandoned cars and gas pumps? Apparently Maine photojournalist David Hill considers them beautiful, enough to scour the highways, byways and back roads …
When you cross the border from New Brunswick into Houlton, Maine you are greeted by a sign that says: “Maine: The Way Life Should Be.” A grand statement perhaps but one difficult to find fault with after you get to know this diverse 23rd state. For the past several years my wife and I have vacationed in …
Inanna Publications always has something different to read, so I often look to them for a book that is a change of pace from the norm. While browsing their website, I noticed Bear War-den (2015) by Vivian Demuth. In the brief description on the Inanna site it stated: “Told in an experimental style that mixes realism …
In a recent review, I lamented the fact that the novella in question should have been a novel in order that the story and characters could be more fully formed. With Moments of Joy (Inanna, 2015) Cecelia Frey has created an entire novel from what could easily have been a shorter book. It was a …
As I work in the medical profession, I find books with medical content interesting. However this book has another angle to it that intrigued me: the forced internment of Japanese-Canadians during WWII. Young Harry Nikaido was attending medical school at the University of Toronto in 1942 when Japanese-Canadians living in coastal BC were stripped of all …
Retired forensic anthropologist Debra Komar has written, to date, three books about unsolved murders from Canada’s past. I have now read two of them, The Ballad of Jacob Peck (2013) and The Bastard of Fort Stikine (2015). A third book, The Lynching of Peter Wheeler was released in 2014. All three books are published by Goose …
The Factory Voice (2009, Coteau Books) was on the longlist for the 2009 ScotiaBank Giller prize and it is easy to see why it was so popular. Set in Fort William (now part of Thunder Bay) during WWII in a factory that manufactures Mosquito bombers. It is almost entirely staffed by women right from Audrey the …
I must admit that I was a little misled by the whimsical cover art and title of Here Comes the Dreamer (2015, Inanna Publications). I thought this was going to be a lighthearted novella by Carole Giangrande, but male protagonist Alastair Luce is certainly no Walter Mitty type of dreamer. This book is the melancholy tale of …
We have a saying up here in the Miramichi: “the very best” (but you have to run all three words together to say it correctly). Typically, it comes in response to “how are you?” or “how’s the family?” and so on. I thought it would make a great award title for the best books that the …
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Nicholas Selig, Editor-in-Chief
