Quill and Quire

Fiction: Novels

The Guardians

By Andrew Pyper

In his introduction to Michel Houellebecq’s book-length essay, H.P. Lovecraft: Against the World, Against Life, Stephen King wrote, “I think that a generation’s weird fiction, which has always been mainstream literature’s first cousin, gives us ... Read More »

April 6, 2011 | Filed under: Fiction: Novels

Raising Orion

By Lesley Choyce

An enigmatic woman named Molly is the subject of prolific Nova Scotia writer Lesley Choyce’s newest novel. Raising Orion describes Molly’s childhood as the daughter of the last lighthouse keeper on an isolated island off ... Read More »

April 6, 2011 | Filed under: Fiction: Novels

Spat the Dummy

By Ed Macdonald

The perilous repercussions of a horrific childhood secret propel Spat the Dummy, Gemini Award–winning screenwriter Ed Macdonald’s dynamic exploration of sex, drugs, violence, and the meaning of fatherhood. This excellent debut novel combines gutsy language ... Read More »

April 6, 2011 | Filed under: Fiction: Novels

Extensions

By Myrna Dey

At first glance, Myrna Dey’s debut novel offers a familiar set-up: a modern-day city slicker finds a packet of letters written by her great-grandmother Jane, a Welsh immigrant battling poverty and loneliness amid the misery ... Read More »

April 6, 2011 | Filed under: Fiction: Novels

Irma Voth

By Miriam Toews

Miriam Toews’ follow-up to 2008’s The Flying Troutmans details its eponymous protagonist’s various attempts to answer the question, “How do I behave in this world without following the directions of my father, my husband, or ... Read More »

April 1, 2011 | Filed under: Fiction: Novels

The Free World

By David Bezmozgis

After Henry Roth, after Isaac Bashevis Singer, after Saul Bellow, after Philip Roth, after Grace Paley, after Mordecai Richler, after Cynthia Ozick, after countless other writers secular and religious, socialist and conservative, Zionist and assimilationist, ... Read More »

March 28, 2011 | Filed under: Fiction: Novels