Quill and Quire

Reviews

Treading Water

By Anne DeGrace

Historical fiction is tricky. Successful books in the genre blend equal amounts of fact with fiction, while others provide just enough background to set the scene and provide context. Ultimately, it is the reader who ... Read More »

November 22, 2005 | Filed under: Fiction: Novels

Field of Mars

By Stephen Miller

Russian mystery and thriller writers are currently doing extremely well in the West, most notably Boris Akunin – two of whose policiers are being turned into feature films – and Yulia Latynina, whose stinging odes ... Read More »

November 22, 2005 | Filed under: Fiction: Novels

Santa Claus: A Biography

By Gerry Bowler

This Christmas, Santa won’t bring every child a pony or an MP3 player. But let the disappointed take comfort: at least he no longer brings vinegar-soaked birch rods to the unlucky or badly behaved. Gerry ... Read More »

November 21, 2005 | Filed under: History

★ April Fool

By William Deverell

Arthur Ransome Beauchamp has risen yet again. The fusty, feisty, now-retired lawyer is alive and reasonably well on his Garibaldi Island home in William Deverell’s new novel, April Fool.The action begins when Nick “The Owl” ... Read More »

November 18, 2005 | Filed under: Fiction: Novels

The City Man

By Howard Akler

Howard Akler’s debut novel, The City Man, is an engrossing and entertaining quick read. Part crime novel, part love story, The City Man is set in Toronto over three months in 1934. Swiftly moving scenes, ... Read More »

November 18, 2005 | Filed under: Fiction: Novels