Quill and Quire

Fiction: Novels

Bait

By J. Kent Messum

Some novels cry out to be filmed. Bait, the debut from musician-turned-wordsmith J. Kent Messum, simply roars. That’s not a knock against Messum’s stylistic approach. The B-movie premise and far-fetched plot don’t detract from one’s ... Read More »

October 22, 2013 | Filed under: Fiction: Novels

Watch How We Walk

By Jennifer LoveGrove

At some point, every kid who had Jehovah’s Witness classmates must have wondered what happened when their secretive peers skipped the after-school extracurriculars and disappeared behind their front doors. For curious outsiders, Watch How We ... Read More »

October 22, 2013 | Filed under: Fiction: Novels

My Ghosts

By Mary Swan

With her second novel, author Mary Swan seems to be issuing a challenge to readers: pay attention. It’s not just that her book is complex, layered, and boasts a large cast of characters – though ... Read More »

October 22, 2013 | Filed under: Fiction: Novels

Kicking the Sky

By Anthony De Sa

Anthony De Sa’s story collection, 2008’s Barnacle Love, was shortlisted for both the Scotiabank Giller Prize and the Toronto Book Award. The author’s long-awaited first novel is a powerful follow-up to this impressive debut. Kicking ... Read More »

September 30, 2013 | Filed under: Fiction: Novels

Low

By Anna Quon

At first glance, Adriana seems to have the trivial difficulties of any young adult – family issues, a bothersome ex-boyfriend, school troubles. But after a failed suicide attempt lands her at a mental hospital, she ... Read More »

September 27, 2013 | Filed under: Fiction: Novels

Swarm

By Lauren Carter

Set alternately in a city crumbling into cavernous disparity between rich and poor, and on an island characterized by hardscrabble sustenance, Lauren Carter’s debut novel tells the dystopic near-future story of everyperson Sandy Burch-Bailey. The ... Read More »

September 27, 2013 | Filed under: Fiction: Novels