Essential Prose Series

Fleeing Stalin's advance into Lithuania, shaken by communism and war, four refugees end up in Toronto in 1949. Vytas, a young doctor who gets into medical school by saving a child's life, is haunted by a lost love. Maryte, a seamstress whose affair with a German officer saved her half-witted brother, struggles to take care of him. Justine, a concert pianist raped during the war, strives to regain her ability to make music. Father Geras, an illegitimate child steered into the priesthood by family, finds purpose in guiding his exiled people. Trying to resume normal lives, longing for their country's freedom, they wait to go home.

Grappling with her daughter's fatal accident, Joanna finds solace in the conviction that her daughter lives on in the body of another child. Nancy's decision to lose a kidney in order to save her husband's life jeopardizes her last chance for motherhood. All that Barbara possesses and identifies with, including companionship with a ghost, vanishes overnight. Angie takes a drastic measure to lose weight in order to regain her confidence and self esteem. Rosemary, a renowned "agony aunt," falls apart when her husband leaves her, only to find comfort in the strangest of strangers. Love and the supernatural drive these stories about the intertwining lives of five female cousins, who learn that loss—from misplacing keys to confronting death—is a constant force.

When Harper Martin drifts into a sleepy Cape Cod resort with a mysterious investment plan, he unleashes a firestorm involving the F.B.I., the State Department, the government of Nicaragua, and the J. Paul Getty Museum. Laura Marello's hilarious new novel features a surreal cast of characters, among them the Souza Family (Provincetown's version of the Kennedys. They were handsome, glamorous, Catholic and doomed"), Voodoo Woman, and a parrot named Sydney Greenstreet. We come to know them all - fishermen, artists, drug dealers, owners of bars both gay and straight - through the lens of a winsome young amnesiac whose own past is shrouded in mystery. Marello's passion for art and film, seen in her earlier work, helps propel the action forward to its riotous conclusion; her love for the glorious foibles of our human nature, rendered with compassion as well as humor, keeps us caring about what happens." Constance Solari, author of Sophie's Fire

Max has been a freelance reporter dodging bullets in Latin America, a small-time newspaper editor who delights in infuriating his publisher and, finally, a flack for a communications company -- the elephant's graveyard for journalists. But none of this compares with the terrors of assisted living, so instead Max risks everything on something he's kept secret until recently: his increasingly unreliable ability to travel in time. He set out to search the past for his late wife and settle down with her again. In turn satirical and poignant, replete with dark humour, sarcasm, wise-cracking characters and laugh-out-loud funny bits, this is a debut novel that is going to ring some bells and stir some pots.

The stories in this collection centre around new immigrants — spirited people who are prepared to leave their home and hearth to travel to distant lands to pursue their dreams of a better life. But often times there's a reality check , and they are left to grapple with unexpected challenges of cultural shock, paucity of jobs, lack of Canadian work experience, absence of affordable daycare, and non-recognition of their educational credentials. Though the accounts are fictional they show the determination of new immigrants to survive on alien soil.

McKinley's Ghost & the Little Tin Truck tells the story of the Millers, a fictional family struggling among the real events of the early 20th century: the end of the Progressive Era, The Great War and influenza pandemic, prohibition, voting rights for women, the conservative take-over, the Red Scare, xenophobic hatred of immigrants and other "inferiors," lynching and race riots, union-busting, the elevation of "business" in government and the resulting unparalleled corruption, a wild stock market, spiraling income disparity, the Great Depression, national despair and the seeds of the next world war.

Two brothers come to school and do nothing but tell stories. A man goes to a singles dance. A retired man in India tries to collect his pension. A woman tells the story of her husband's death in partition India. An unnamed narrator offers his "notes" on modern-day America, the culture of success. Some of the stories are set in India, some in America. Some stories are fable-like, others more realistic. Some deal with sex, some are "intellectual" stories. But all stories deal, in one way or another, with small, "mediocre" people, people trying to fit into a world of bigness, applause, success.

At the age of twenty, Sheyda Porrouya's life is almost over. She was born in Iran on the day staunchly orthodox mullas declared the birth of the Islamic Republic and set about summarily purging the country of all things Western and un-Islamic. To make matters worse, as she matured, Sheyda seemed increasingly unable to distinguish between fairy tale and reality. She began to exhibit disturbing behavior. When Sheyda is accused of killing her mother, she is immediately jailed and sentenced to death by hanging. The narrative jumps back and forth from Sheyda's childhood to her current life in one of Iran's most notorious prisons, where she awaits either release or execution.

There are unseen forces in our lives that shape who we are and what we become. How we respond to those forces determines our futures. These stories examine how characters respond to the unexpected. Do we carry our memories of the beautiful moments of life with us into death? And, ultimately, what do we value in life that defines us--from a hat to the shadow of a figure in a window reminding us of what we have lost or need to hold onto?

Nobody Looks That Young Here is about interconnected characters who struggle with whether to accept or reject their seemingly predetermined lives in Currie Township, Southwestern Ontario. The youth and adolescence of one character, Michael Carrion, makes up a large part of the narrative, but the narrators vary in age and gender and the story unfolds over a period of approximately 30 years. As ancestors, this book could count Lives of Girls and Women, Winesburg, Ohio, Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town and the novels of S.E. Hinton.

From Black Hand criminals to stand-up cops, from innocent victims and ordinary people to schemers and dreamers: a novel that chronicles one hundred years in the lives and relationships of those who have lived in New York City's Little Italy. A multi-generational, multi-dimensional tale that digs deep into the minds and hearts of this vibrant neighborhood.

Joseph, the tactician behind the Piccadilly Circus bombing, finds himself in a nursing home in Pierrefonds, Quebec. A visit from a long-lost former fellow cell member interrupts his dalliance with the night nurse, provoking both a crisis and a period of reflection. Did he lose his mind back then as a young man? Or is he losing it now? Why did a systems analyst living on the Kandahar Road in London, with a PhD from the London School of Economics and an enthusiasm for Bobby Darin's hit "Dream Lover" (the Farsi version), bring home fertilizer? Will his former associates give him up with deathbed confessions?

A boy finds a vocation as a weaver of bread. A Russian woman, thought dead, e-mails greetings to her adolescent sister in a Canadian suburb. An investment banker vanishes and is found fifteen years later when his daughter discovers a painting of herself in a distant gallery. With wit and ache, Daniel Karasik's Faithful and Other Stories evokes a world of seekers, characters panning for meaning in environments by turns hostile, mystifying, and enchanted. This collection brings together stories honoured with the CBC Short Story Prize, The Malahat Review's Jack Hodgins Founders' Award for Fiction, and the Alta Lind Cook Prize.

Immortal Water offers a unique portrayal of the very human fear of ageing. The novel depicts two men from two time periods: the Spanish conquistador Juan Ponce de Leon in the 16th Century and a retired teacher named Ross Porter in contemporary times, both in the midst of life altering crises. Inside parallel plots the two men form an obsession with a quixotic search for the mythical fountain of youth. The protagonists sparkle into fullness as each is depicted in his struggle to remain vital while age slowly steals his significance away.

Taking place during World War II, Somewhere in the Stars is the story of three young men from San Francisco -- Nick Spataro, his cousin Paolo, and friend Nathan Fein -- and their adventures as members of an American tank battalion chasing the Germans up the Italian peninsula, while Nick's Sicilian dad is interned as an "enemy alien" back in the USA. Despite encountering prejudice both at home and during their tank training, the three show uncanny skill in outmaneuvering and destroying German tanks, until their own tank is blown up. Tragic events both on and off the battlefield, bravery, guilt in the loss of friends, romance, trauma, feelings of regret, daring rescues and eventual re-union with loved ones make for a powerful and explosive mix.

In 1941, 12-year-old Rivka Rosenfeld lives in the Warsaw Ghetto with her grandfather and two sisters in a synagogue because housing is scarce. When German soldiers slash her grandfather's beard, Rivka is compelled to write in between the pages of a library book by Hans Christian Andersen. Dr. Emanuel Ringelblum, founder of the Underground Archive--a compilation of Warsaw Ghetto experiences, asks her to contribute her stories to the archives and Rivka agrees, imagining her words rising up from the ground on wings of their own.

Meet the Garneau boys, triplets from small-town Ontario. Daniel the "eldest" is gay, and moves to Toronto with his best friend Karen to attend university. Eventually, he meets David, a bike mechanic whose Catholic Italian mother talks to her dead husbands. Their chemistry is immediate, but Daniel is still drawn to his ex-boyfriend Marcus, a performance artist whose grandfather was a book-burning Nazi. A Boy at the Edge of the World is a rollicking dramedy that explores the compulsive and (ultimately) universal human pursuit of intimacy, sex, and love.

A Voluntary Crucifixion traces the story of 20th century Canada through the MacKinnon clan and David J MacKinnon?s life. Disillusioned with the slow death of the soul promised by life at a major Montreal law firm, MacKinnon ripped himself untimely from the profession, making a personal vow to discover society —from the bottom up. A Voluntary Crucifixion recounts the tale of MacKinnon's adventures and misadventures from post-Tiananmen Hong Kong to various ports of call in the Indian Ocean, offering MacKinnon's views on everything from censorship to indigenous issues, all of which reflect his life ethos that the key to life is to refuse to adapt, and to fight tooth-and-nail for every square inch of your freedom before others wrench it from you.

Myth, folklore, and magic permeate the stories in Marianne Micros' collection Eye. Set in ancient and modern Greece, and in contemporary Europe and North America, these tales tell of evil-eye curses, women healers, ghosts, a changeling, and people struggling to retain or gain power in a world of changing beliefs. Here you will find stories of a nymph transformed into a heifer, a young soldier who returns home to discover that his brother is a changeling, an ancient temple uncovered during the construction of a church, a betrayed woman lost in a labyrinth, a wise woman confronting changes to her position when modern technology comes to her village. Some stories show that people still seek refuge in myth and folk beliefs; the ways of the past are not gone. The paving of a village does not destroy the power of the evil eye or the ability to repel it. A temple in honour of the old gods comes again to the surface. An unfinished musical composition for piano magically completes itself whenever it is played.

A heartbreaking arrival in a new country. Thrust too early into adulthood. Will he survive Canada's turbulent streets? Toronto, 1882. Joseph Conlon has never felt more alone. Parentless after his mother dies on the voyage from Ireland, the frightened eight-year-old witnesses his sister's abduction and is abandoned at the train station. But once he's placed in a Catholic orphanage, Joseph discovers a gift for drawing and friends that begin to fill the hole in his heart. Falling for a mercurial girl acrobat, his desire to win her affection drives him to find her after she runs off for a life on the stage. And as he leaves the institution and grows to manhood, the young immigrant endures dangerous work, anti-Irish bigotry, and lying about his faith to survive… only to have his longing for family lead to tragedy. Will Joseph ever reach the place where he belongs? In this poignant and lyrical story, author Robin Blackburn McBride follows one boy's emotional and colorful journey. Deftly depicting a compelling era while exploring the intensely personal challenges of the human experience, McBride's inspirational tale of hope and courage will touch you deeply. The Shining Fragments is a meticulously researched and rendered historical family saga. If you like complex characters, richly authentic settings, and stories of resilience, then you'll love Robin Blackburn McBride's immersive novel. Buy The Shining Fragments to witness the strength of the human spirit today! "Tales about orphans left to find their way in the New World are many, but few are as engaging as this story." -Historical Novel Society North America, Editors' Choice

Four strong women: Anjali, an Indo-Canadian single mother who eagerly accepts an African posting with her non-profit organization; Grace, her dedicated but dominating colleague, who opposes her; Fatimah, a farmer ousted from her home and fertile farmland, whom Anjali befriends; and Mary, Anjali's kindly maid, who must secure the future of her son, Gabriel. In Land for Fatimah, Anjali involves herself in Fatimah's quest to find new land for her scattered community, and is thrown into a web of intrigue that upturns her safe, orderly world. Capturing the warmth and vitality of Africa, illuminating everyday heroism, the novel explores expat life, the forced displacement of the poor and the complexities of development.

Mouth of Truth is the unique story of a woman trapped in the vault of family secrets, part of her still a hidden child, some 40 years after the Second World War. Following a crisis, she leaves her home and children in search of the truth about her beloved father, a Jewish policeman in the Warsaw Ghetto. The story reveals how unhealed childhood trauma of a parent can be transmitted from one generation to the next, destroying families and other relationships in its wake.

Dead Voices is a collection of stories that are both seriously realistic and comically whimsical. They have everything from superheroes who get sick on words, to the appearance of dead playwrights, to the visit of saints and sinners from the past, to a hot stove discussion on hockey and love. They're about the modern mind-set and its technological marvels and the older attention to character and virtue.