Quill and Quire

Reviews

Open Pit

By Marguerite Pigeon

In 2005, during a time of increasing globalization, a group of Canadian human-rights activists travels to El Salvador. Before they get to see the sights or meet the locals, they’re taken hostage by a former ... Read More »

June 18, 2013 | Filed under: Fiction: Novels

Keeping the Peace

By Colette Maitland

Strictly speaking, there’s not much new about Colette Maitland’s debut short-story collection. Fifteen of the 19 pieces that make up Keeping the Peace have been published elsewhere, and Maitland is remarkably consistent in her themes: ... Read More »

June 18, 2013 | Filed under: Fiction: Short

Belinda’s Rings

By Corinna Chong

The sagacious and singular worldview of 15-year-old narrator Grace is the most memorable aspect of Corinna Chong’s debut novel. Grace is the second of three children from her mother Belinda’s two marriages. Along with her ... Read More »

June 18, 2013 | Filed under: Fiction: Novels

In Calamity’s Wake

By Natalee Caple

In the “note on pastiche sources” that follows the conclusion of Natalee Caple’s unconventional Old West family drama, the author calls the book a “metahistoriographic fiction.” Caple’s mash-up blends the real and the invented, the ... Read More »

June 18, 2013 | Filed under: Fiction: Novels

★ Caught

By Lisa Moore

Lisa Moore, whose novel February won this year’s Canada Reads competition, has the ability to perfectly capture an emotional moment. At the outset of her third novel, Caught, David Slaney has escaped the prison that ... Read More »

June 17, 2013 | Filed under: Fiction: Novels

The Empty Room

By Lauren B. Davis

Lauren B. Davis’s fourth novel tells the story of Colleen Kerrigan, a relatively unremarkable middle-aged secretary who is single and childless. Colleen is also a full-blown alcoholic. The novel takes place over a single day. ... Read More »

June 10, 2013 | Filed under: Fiction: Novels