Quill and Quire

Reviews

Stay

By Aislinn Hunter

Poet and short story writer Aislinn Hunter’s first novel is about a young Canadian who makes the pilgrimage to Europe to find herself. The plot may sound old-fashioned, but Stay’s rigorous examination of the relationship ... Read More »

January 7, 2004 | Filed under: Fiction: Novels

The Featherbed

By John L. Miller

“Objects hold meaning,” Rebecca tells her daughter Anna from her deathbed, “an object might reveal a person’s hopes and dreams.” That object, Anna soon discovers, is her mother’s diary dating back to 1909. The revelations ... Read More »

January 7, 2004 | Filed under: Fiction: Novels

Hating Gladys

By Leona Gom

It is the summer of 1965, and Gladys Pratt, an embittered, middle-aged woman, is preparing for another swarm of whining tourists to descend upon her isolated Yukon lodge. When one of her sullen staffers tries ... Read More »

January 7, 2004 | Filed under: Fiction: Novels

Exile

By Ann Ireland

Carlos Romero Estévez is hastily smuggled out of his country and flown to Vancouver to take up a university appointment as writer-in-exile. It is possible, however, to be a political refugee without being a hero, ... Read More »

January 7, 2004 | Filed under: Fiction: Novels

The Spirit Bride

By Bruce Meyer

As a literary critic, lecturer, and author, Dr. Bruce Meyer is well known for his expertise on the “Great Books” in the Western literary canon. In many ways, The Spirit Bride, Meyer’s fifth collection of ... Read More »

January 7, 2004 | Filed under: Poetry

The Perpetual Ending

By Kristen den Hartog

As any creative writing teacher knows, serious stories about broken homes are very difficult to carry off, demanding a near-religious abstinence from anything smacking of movie-of-the-week melodramatics. Kristen den Hartog’s unsatisfying follow-up to the well-received ... Read More »

January 7, 2004 | Filed under: Fiction: Novels

Please

By Peter Darbyshire

Please, Peter Darbyshire’s debut novel, belongs to a genre of urban slacker/existentialist fiction recently popularized by Jesus’ Son, the critically acclaimed collection of linked stories by American Denis Johnson. The appeal of Johnson’s protagonist lay ... Read More »

January 7, 2004 | Filed under: Fiction: Novels