Quill and Quire

Reviews

Unravelled

By Robyn Harding

You know what you’re going to get with most chick lit: an appealing heroine with a job that leads to hijinks or, at the very least, some low-grade titillation. While these books add little to ... Read More »

June 14, 2007 | Filed under: Fiction: Novels

Six Ways to Sunday

By Christian McPherson

In “The Plastic Garden,” the opening story of Ottawa author Christian McPherson’s debut collection Six Ways to Sunday, a reclusive model-maker finds emotional fulfillment in crafting tiny animals for a young neighbour. When the creatures ... Read More »

June 14, 2007 | Filed under: Fiction: Short

Town House

By Tish Cohen

At age 36, Jack Madigan would seem to be skewing slightly old to be a proper hero of romantic comedy, but no: he fits the role as perfectly as Hugh Grant wears his hair. Author ... Read More »

June 14, 2007 | Filed under: Fiction: Novels

Between Trains

By Barry Callaghan

The stories in Barry Callaghan’s new collection are written in a plain style reminiscent of Hemingway. And as with Hemingway, there are depths of emotion roiling beneath the deceptively simple surface of Callaghan’s prose. Callaghan’s ... Read More »

June 14, 2007 | Filed under: Fiction: Short

The Milk Chicken Bomb

By Andrew Wedderburn

Welcome to Marvin, Alberta, the fictional landscape of writer/musician Andrew Wedderburn’s debut novel. Starring “the kid,” an unnamed narrator who stands against the backdrop of the local meat-packing plant, amid Russian expatriates, smalltown antiheroes, bonspiels, ... Read More »

June 13, 2007 | Filed under: Fiction: Novels

Belle Falls

By Sherri Vanderveen

It’s a compelling opening for a novel: on a sunny afternoon, six-year-old Brennan Allister is riding his bike around his affluent neighbourhood when he disappears. Hours later, bruised, bitten, and wearing only his underwear, he ... Read More »

June 13, 2007 | Filed under: Fiction: Novels