Quill and Quire

Fiction: Novels

Sundre

By Christopher Willard

Christopher Willard’s second novel is a significant departure from his 2005 fiction debut. Whereas Garbage Head satirized celebrity culture, telecommunications, and the absurdities of postmodernity, Sundre deals in shotguns, combines, and pick-up trucks. Composed of ... Read More »

August 11, 2009 | Filed under: Fiction: Novels

Boldface Names

By Shinan Govani

National Post gossip columnist Shinan Govani follows the time-honoured advice “write what you know” in his fiction debut, a novel that traces the adventures of a Toronto-based gossip columnist (he prefers the designation “social archivist”) ... Read More »

August 10, 2009 | Filed under: Fiction: Novels

Goya’s Dog

By Damian Tarnopolsky

Celebrated English abstract painter and writer Wyndham Lewis once described Second World War Toronto as a “sanctimonious icebox.” In the acknowledgements for Goya’s Dog, Damian Tarnopolsky cites Lewis as an inspiration for his first novel. ... Read More »

July 20, 2009 | Filed under: Fiction: Novels

The Wife’s Tale

By Lori Lansens

In their introduction to The Oprah Affect, a collection of essays that analyze the impact of Oprah’s Book Club on popular and literary culture, editors Jaime Harker and Cecilia Konchar Farr argue there’s nothing new ... Read More »

July 6, 2009 | Filed under: Fiction: Novels

Grave Doubts

By John Moss

John Moss introduced his detective duo, David Morgan and Miranda Quin, in last year’s Still Waters. They were an appealing team, navigating the bounds of professional partnership and personal involvement, more prone to banter and ... Read More »

July 3, 2009 | Filed under: Fiction: Novels

The Best of Men

By Claire Letemendia

Warmongering royalty, an army plundering its own people, and morality measures pushing the brothels of London to bankruptcy: there was much to talk about in England circa 1642. And the characters in Claire Letemendia’s debut ... Read More »

July 2, 2009 | Filed under: Fiction: Novels