false 4 0 false false Fri Sep 07 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Tue Feb 12 09:38:18 -0800 2008 Tue Feb 12 09:38:18 -0800 2008
Before I offer a look inside (don't worry, as always, no spoilers), I have to say that Redhill is a gifted author with great talent. His prose is incredible; small descriptions of light shining on the water, for example, are so realistic that you can truly see it in your mind's eye. His characterizations are very well drawn and once I settled into the book, it was a true pleasure to read.

There are two stories here. David Hollis, an historian of some local note, has died, a suicide. He leaves behind a wife, Marianne, two daughters and a son-in-law (or fiance -- I'm not sure) John, who was very close to David. As the story opens, the family is dealing with its loss and its grief, each in in his or her own way. Marianne, for example, has taken up in a Toronto hotel overlooking a construction project and will not leave. Her husband had said that he had proof that a steamship had gone down in the 1850s, and that in the wreckage there would be a set of glass plates with a pictorial panorama of the city at the time on them. This wreckage and the plates become his holy grail, but no one was paying attention to him. Now, Marianne is waiting and watching for the construction workers to unearth the wreckage where her husband said it would be, and will not leave until something turns up to prove him right -- or at least until she can get around what kept her husband so preoccupied the last years of his life. Her son-in-law is the only one who will visit or talk to her; he becomes involved in her quest by ferreting out information. But he has his own need to deal with David's loss.

The second story is that of Jem Hallam, who comes to Toronto in the 1850s to start a new life and bring his family business to the area. Leaving his wife & children behind, he soon has to come to grips with who he has become in this new place.

It is a marvelous story, a look at how people deal with loss and grief, each in his or her own way. There is a wonderful plot twist along the way which I never saw coming -- once you get to that point, all is made very clear.

So, who would like this book? Well, I'd think people who are interested in history would like it; people who are interested in the topic of loss & grief would really enjoy it. Anyone who loves good writing should also read this one. I would definitely recommend it.

Booker Prize winner? Probably not; however, it is well worth every second of reading time.]]>