Naming the Shadows by Sharon Berg

Naming the Shadows by Sharon Berg

Naming the Shadows, Sharon Berg’s collection of stories, is a fascinating exploration of diverse subjects, from uncovering family secrets and probing social taboos, to examining career choices and overcoming personal trauma. The stories are character driven, and...
This White Nest by Frances Boyle

This White Nest by Frances Boyle

In the title poem of her newest collection, This White Nest, Frances Boyle poses the question “What shines?” This is the question that sits with the reader as they make their way through the poems, but others soon weave their way in, too. In “Tutelage,”...
Ordinary Strangers by Bill Stenson

Ordinary Strangers by Bill Stenson

‘Ordinary’ and ‘strangers’ are two words that seem contradictory. Yet they fit in this fine book by Bill Stenson, author of Svoboda and Hanne and Her Brothers among others. Sage and Della Howard are a couple on their way to Fernie, BC. After a brief stop in Hope where...
The Old Songs By Madeline Coopsammy

The Old Songs By Madeline Coopsammy

Coopsammy’s novel, set in Trinidad in the 1950’s, features Tessa Joseph who is eight years old when the story begins and nineteen when it ends with her leaving the island, having won a scholarship to attend university in Delhi. Tessa is an avid reader who dreams of...
Dear Evelyn by Kathy Page

Dear Evelyn by Kathy Page

Marriage. We make jokes about it. We have names for it such as jumping the broom, vows, a socially recognized union, a sanctioned contract.  A match. But what does a marriage entail? Celebration. Despair. Or more. Early in Kathy Page’s novel, Dear Evelyn, David...