The Western Light
by Susan Swan
ISBN 9781770862227 | eISBN 9781770862234 | 5.5" x 8.5" | HC | $29.95
Categories:Fiction - Literary, Fiction - Historical
Purchase: Local Bookstores | amazon.ca | chapters.indigo.ca
Purchase ebook:kobo | Kindle
Synopsis
Finalist for the 2013 OLA Forest of Reading Evergreen AwardMouse’s world is constrained by a number of factors: her mother is dead, her father – the admired country doctor – is emotionally distant, her housekeeper Sal is prejudiced and narrow, and her grandmother and aunt, Big Louie and Little Louie, the only life-affirming presences in her life, live in another city.
Enter Gentleman John Pilkie, the former NHL star who’s transferred to the mental hospital in Madoc's Landing, where he is to serve out his life-sentence for the murder of his wife and daughter. John becomes a point of fascination for young Mary, who looks to him for the attention she does not receive from her father. He, in turn, is kind to her – but the kindness is misunderstood. When Mary figures out that the attention she receives from the Hockey Killer is different in kind and intent from the attention her Aunt Little Louie receives, her world collapses.
Set against the beautiful and dramatic shore of Georgian Bay, the climax will have readers turning pages with concern for characters they can’t help but love.
Praise
"Mouse Bradford is a unique and luminous creation... Gentleman John Pilkie, the hockey killer with a heart of gold, is dressed and ready to become a legend."
— Paul Gross
"With its focus on winter in northern towns, pre-medicare medicine, hockey and the very relevant issue of concussions among professional athletes, Swan has added another gem to the Canadian canon."
- NOW Magazine
"[Swan's] poetic descriptions of Ontario’s harsh winter weather and adept use of colloquial speech ... are particularly vivid, and help bring the world of the novel to vibrant life."
- Quill and Quire
Media
Official trailer:
TINARS launch:
