The Islands – Dionne Irving

Short stories about the Jamaican diaspora, women immigrants or descendants of immigrants. With multiple locations over many years, the poignant stories reveal the complexities of live, issues of identity and belonging, of uncertainty. Overall, very moving and deservedly Giller short-listed.

All The Colour In The World – CS Richardson

Henry is born in 1916, and raised by a Shakespeare-quoting grandmother. His artistic talent is colouring and copying which leads him to art history. Marriage to Alice ends with a tragic accident and a disastrous war experience leads to PTSD. Best of all, art and history permeates Richardson’s writing: Giller short-listed and highly recommended.

The Mystery of Right and Wrong – Wayne Johnston

Mr. Johnston has written many fine books about Newfoundland (The Colony of Unrequited Dreams, The Custodian of Paradise), but none so graphic as this new novel. Wade is a young man from a Newfoundland outport, a true provincial in every sense of the word, who meets South African born Rachel in the MUN library. Rachel is a wounded soul, obsessed with reading and re-reading The Diary of Anne Frank; her three sisters are equally conflicted. Most of the book takes place in South Africa and Amsterdam in 1985. Be warned – this story contains some dark and disturbing secrets that are very intense.

Invisible Boy – Harrison Mooney

Subtitle: a memoir of self-discovery. Harry/Harrison is a black child who is adopted by a white evangelical couple in Abbotsford, the BC bible belt. What follows is indoctrination by home-schooling and church fundamentalism, tent revivals, and demon possession and oppression.  What is African is explicitly evil. What an adopted Black child learns is shame, confusion and suspicion, and thus is rendered invisible. Can mixed race adoptions ever be successful? Thanks Amy, for this thoughtful memoir.

Demon Copperhead – Barbara Kingsolver

This fascinating book is a retelling of the classic Dickens’ David Copperfield, transposed to contemporary times in rural Appalachia. Demon/Damon has a teenage single mother who subsequently dies. Thus, the story contains crushing poverty, mean-spirited foster care and an indifferent social services system. Most compelling, however, is the descent into addictions prompted by the (mis)use of oxycontin. The perils of Demon’s journey to maturity are profound, given his perception of his own invisibility. Highly recommended.

My Murder – Katie Williams

What an interesting premise for a murder mystery: Lou/Louise, a wife and mother of a toddler, is murdered by a serial killer, and then resurrected by cloning, masterminded by the resurrection committee. But there are unsettling discrepancies between the before and after. What if the murder you have to solve is your own? And of course, VR games are a complicating factor. Overall, a very original and startling book.

The Double Life of Benson Yu – Kevin Chong

The author of the prescient The Plague has now written an inventive story of metafiction. The narrator/author creates a fictional version of himself as 12-year-old Benny living in 1980s Vancouver Chinatown. Accordingly, there is a blend of reality and invention. What if the author loses control of the narrative? Consequently, the story is often confusing because of two timelines, and thus can be frustrating. Some complex themes of child sexual abuse and suicidal ideation abound. This original story is deservedly on the Giller long-list.

The Cloisters – Katy Hays

Context is everything in this fine first novel. The Cloisters is a gothic museum of medieval, a branch of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Researchers search for 15th century tarot cards used for divination – telling the future had been the original purpose of these cards. There is a murder, of course, and academic obsession. What is fate and what is choice? Sinister secrets abound and the ending is especially seductive.