Quill and Quire

Fiction: Novels

A Blade of Grass

By Lewis DeSoto

A Blade of Grass, the first novel from Toronto writer and painter Lewis DeSoto, is an impressive, if flawed, debut, a compelling examination of race and place, the personal and the political, in South Africa. ... Read More »

November 20, 2003 | Filed under: Fiction: Novels

Alms

By Cynthia MacDonald

Alms is set in the 1980s in Toronto. Its sad-sack protagonist, Martine Craythorn, describes her people as “the late-century rich – back-patters and horse-laughers.” In an age of ambition and acquisition, Martine is obsessed only ... Read More »

November 20, 2003 | Filed under: Fiction: Novels

The Animal Sciences

By Ron Hotz

Ron Hotz distinguishes his first novel, The Animal Sciences, from other Canadian stories of dysfunctional characters and difficult loves by presenting it as a kind of scientific case study rather than as a deeply felt ... Read More »

November 19, 2003 | Filed under: Fiction: Novels

★ An Adoration

By Nancy Huston

Already a bestseller in France, Nancy Huston’s latest novel is both an affecting portrait of real and sympathetic characters and literary high art. Taking the form of the direct testimony of witnesses at a murder ... Read More »

November 19, 2003 | Filed under: Fiction: Novels