Quill and Quire

BOOK REVIEWS

The Chosen Maiden

By Eva Stachniak

Many works of fiction take as their inspiration true events and persons of historical significance, but few do so as lovingly and imaginatively as Eva Stachniak’s fifth novel. The Chosen Maiden is a fictionalized account ... Read More »

January 3, 2017 | Filed under: Fiction: Novels

★ My Beautiful Birds

By Suzanne Del Rizzo

With the arrival of Syrian refugee families in many Canadian communities, parents and children alike are charged with trying to understand the harsh experiences these new classmates and neighbours have undergone. The compassionate and beautiful ... Read More »

January 3, 2017 | Filed under: Picture Books

Minds of Winter

By Ed O’Loughlin

When the wrecks of the expeditionary ships HMS Erebus and Terror, lost while searching for the Northwest Passage in the mid–19th century, were finally discovered (in 2014 and 2016, respectively), the events marked the final ... Read More »

January 3, 2017 | Filed under: Fiction: Novels

The Weather Inside

By Emily Saso

Indoors or out, actual or perceived, the weather in Emily Saso’s assured debut novel tends toward the weird and tumultuous. Set in a contemporary but unappealing Toronto – “a place bloated with condo developments and ... Read More »

December 21, 2016 | Filed under: Fiction: Novels

Gambling with Fire

By David Montrose

The term “Canadian noir” sounds almost oxymoronic – as a concept, it runs contrary to both our complacently benign self-image and our international reputation as wholesome, apologetic, and frostbitten. The strange difficulty of convincing ourselves ... Read More »

December 15, 2016 | Filed under: Fiction: Novels