Beyond the Brightening Sea by Trudy J. Morgan-Cole begins in 1649 with the beheading of King Charles I. In far-off Avalon, New Found Land, fleeing Royalists work to establish a fishing colony, led by a Governor still loyal to the Crown.
At first glance, such a label is similarly not inaccurate. Riverwork follows Lucy Snow, a woman in her 60s who follows in the physical and intellectual footsteps of her aunt Emily, who had lived in Paris and attended the Sorbonne to complete her Master’s but ended up dropping out.
My review copy of The Great Lunenburglary arrived with a handwritten note from the author, “Please enjoy this silly book.” Clearly, author Bryn Pottie has no literary illusions. In fact, on a recent podcast he describes his target reader for his debut novel as anyone who’s “read less than a handful of books since high …
Featuring Elamin Abdelmahmoud, Jo-Ann Roberts, Jacqueline Halsey, and Marjorie Simmins
You hear it often enough: the past clings and refuses to let go. Or how it echoes into the present with the crippling fear of repetition. It’s almost like condemnation, scorn and a warning all wrapped in one. Too much reminiscing about the past leaves you blind to the present, but forgetting leaves you susceptible …
A Sense of Things Beyond by Renée Belliveau is a compelling and well-researched historical fiction novel set in the wake of World War I.
When her husband is sentenced to death by hanging after involvement in a failed rebel uprising in Upper Canada in 1838, Maria resolves to seek justice and save his life so that their young daughter can know her father.
As epigraphs go, Gereaux’s identifies commonplace racism circa 1869. The novel’s subsequent pair of historical settings, about four and eight decades later, suggest cultural change that could be measured in teaspoons.
Featuring Marie-Josée Poisson, Alison Gadsby, Wiley Wei-Chiun Ho, Natalie Southworth
Blood Bound: Unlacing Secret Ties by Marie-Josee Poisson is a work of historical fiction that reimagines the life of Madame de Pompadour, the chief mistress of King Louis XV.
Sisters Marthe and Élisabeth find themselves on a ship to New France, after scandal embroiled Élisabeth in their village.
A careful blend of fact and fiction, Culley was inspired by a sheaf of music scores written by her great-grandfather that she discovered in her father’s basement, including music for several flute trios.
There is a mystery to uncover situated in the detailed life on the farm during the late 1800s. Black’s flair for writing superb and timely dialogue keeps the reader planted in this time and space.
Through an unusual combination of circumstances, Ryan Treiber, a lecturer at Saint Mary’s University, is thrown back in time to the founding of Halifax in 1749, 275 years ago. Found by Aubrey De Courcy, a member of Governor Edward Conrwallis’ council, Ryan stays in a camp clearing that is to become Halifax’s Grand Parade.
Both a deeply-intimate story and one that rides on the tide of historical turning points, Letters to Kafka is a beautifully-rendered novel
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