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CanLit Canon: 6 New Homegrown Classics
Suzette Mayr’s Giller Prize-winning book “The Sleeping Car Porter” is among our picks for the best recent Canadian novels / BY Nathalie Atkinson / January 12th, 2023
From a Giller Prize-winning novel about a gay black train porter to the latest Louise Penny mystery set in Three Pines (now a TV show) and a standalone novel from New Brunswick author David Richards Adams, here are our latest picks for the best in Canadian literature.
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1The Sleeping Car Porter The Calgary novelist’s dazzling new work excavates the same lesser-known territory of Canadian BIPOC history as the CBC’s recent period series, The Porter. The Giller Prize-winning novel, set in 1929 at the intersection of race, sexuality and class injustice, follows a Black train porter, Baxter, over a single shift on a cross-country journey from Montreal to Vancouver. Baxter, a closeted gay man, has spent years saving up for dental school; he’s finally almost there. But as a Black man, he’s vulnerable to the job’s arbitrary demerit system, not to mention at the mercy of the eccentric white passengers. Extreme sleep deprivation, and the minutiae of toiling for a demanding clientele while enduring relentless micro-aggressions, take him to a psychological breaking point in this disquieting novel.
The Calgary novelist’s dazzling new work excavates the same lesser-known territory of Canadian BIPOC history as the CBC’s recent period series, The Porter. The Giller Prize-winning novel, set in 1929 at the intersection of race, sexuality and class injustice, follows a Black train porter, Baxter, over a single shift on a cross-country journey from Montreal to Vancouver. Baxter, a closeted gay man, has spent years saving up for dental school; he’s finally almost there. But as a Black man, he’s vulnerable to the job’s arbitrary demerit system, not to mention at the mercy of the eccentric white passengers. Extreme sleep deprivation, and the minutiae of toiling for a demanding clientele while enduring relentless micro-aggressions, take him to a psychological breaking point in this disquieting novel.
2The Lost Country This historical novel from a poet and novelist recounts and unravels one family’s secrets. But by chronicling events in the underground resistance that test personal loyalty during the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong in the Second World War, the Lambda-award winning Calgary author of The Tiger Flu also explores colonialism, queer Asian history and the rise of modern China.
This historical novel from a poet and novelist recounts and unravels one family’s secrets. But by chronicling events in the underground resistance that test personal loyalty during the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong in the Second World War, the Lambda-award winning Calgary author of The Tiger Flu also explores colonialism, queer Asian history and the rise of modern China.
3Precious Little In her debut novel, the St. John’s-based author tells the story of a young white woman invited to work on an inquiry after a house fire kills six Innu children in Davis Inlet. The fictional account, set in the remote Labrador community in 1992, is inspired by true events and draws on activist Fouillard’s own 40 years of experience as a white French-Canadian woman and educator collaborating with the Mushuau Innu on storytelling and books, as well as land rights, health and education. It’s billed as a journey of grief, trauma, unlearning and healing, and has garnered advance praise from Newfoundland and Labrador writer Lisa Moore and two-spirit Métis elder Marjorie Beaucage, a filmmaker who spent a year with the Innu making a documentary.
In her debut novel, the St. John’s-based author tells the story of a young white woman invited to work on an inquiry after a house fire kills six Innu children in Davis Inlet. The fictional account, set in the remote Labrador community in 1992, is inspired by true events and draws on activist Fouillard’s own 40 years of experience as a white French-Canadian woman and educator collaborating with the Mushuau Innu on storytelling and books, as well as land rights, health and education. It’s billed as a journey of grief, trauma, unlearning and healing, and has garnered advance praise from Newfoundland and Labrador writer Lisa Moore and two-spirit Métis elder Marjorie Beaucage, a filmmaker who spent a year with the Innu making a documentary.
4The Opportunist There are enough private B.C. island compounds and superyachts to call this page-turner, rooted in the corrupting power of greed, the Canadian Succession-meets-Sackler dynasty drama. The wealthy brothers in the Toronto-based novelist and screenwriter’s latest work coax their estranged sister into doing whatever it takes to prevent their father, an ailing business mogul, from marrying his much-younger nurse and disinheriting them. The sister had long ago disavowed the family and fortune built on corrupt business practices, to lead a life of altruism and care for her disabled daughter. But as this gripping literary suspense novel shows, whoever originated the expression “wealthy beyond the dreams of avarice” never met a rapacious heir.
There are enough private B.C. island compounds and superyachts to call this page-turner, rooted in the corrupting power of greed, the Canadian Succession-meets-Sackler dynasty drama. The wealthy brothers in the Toronto-based novelist and screenwriter’s latest work coax their estranged sister into doing whatever it takes to prevent their father, an ailing business mogul, from marrying his much-younger nurse and disinheriting them. The sister had long ago disavowed the family and fortune built on corrupt business practices, to lead a life of altruism and care for her disabled daughter. But as this gripping literary suspense novel shows, whoever originated the expression “wealthy beyond the dreams of avarice” never met a rapacious heir.
5A World of CuriositiesIn the 18th instalment of the bestselling Canadian writer’s crime series (now an Amazon Prime TV series), it’s spring in the beloved fictional Quebec village of Three Pines – murder capital of Canada! The winter thaw has revealed many things buried and forgotten, including old memories. Chief Inspector Armand Gamache and colleague Jean-Guy Beauvoir must urgently revisit details of the tragic homicide that brought them together to solve their first case. As ever, what the Quebec-based author crafts is less a procedural and more a character study probing the contours of human nature, empathy and morality.
In the 18th instalment of the bestselling Canadian writer’s crime series (now an Amazon Prime TV series), it’s spring in the beloved fictional Quebec village of Three Pines – murder capital of Canada! The winter thaw has revealed many things buried and forgotten, including old memories. Chief Inspector Armand Gamache and colleague Jean-Guy Beauvoir must urgently revisit details of the tragic homicide that brought them together to solve their first case. As ever, what the Quebec-based author crafts is less a procedural and more a character study probing the contours of human nature, empathy and morality.
6The Tragedy of Eva MottThis new stand-alone novel, from the award-winning New Brunswick novelist and Canadian senator, concerns the legacy of a family-owned asbestos-mining company that is at a crossroads. Like his acclaimed Miramichi Trilogy, it’s set in a small town, where tragedy and accusations of sexual harassment swirl. Richards’ signature storytelling style previously earned him a Giller Prize ( for Mercy Among the Children in 2000) and two Governor General’s Literary Awards (for Nights Below Station Street in 1988 and Lines on the Water: A Fisherman’s Life on the Miramichi in 1998).
This new stand-alone novel, from the award-winning New Brunswick novelist and Canadian senator, concerns the legacy of a family-owned asbestos-mining company that is at a crossroads. Like his acclaimed Miramichi Trilogy, it’s set in a small town, where tragedy and accusations of sexual harassment swirl. Richards’ signature storytelling style previously earned him a Giller Prize ( for Mercy Among the Children in 2000) and two Governor General’s Literary Awards (for Nights Below Station Street in 1988 and Lines on the Water: A Fisherman’s Life on the Miramichi in 1998).