A NEW SEASON BY TERRY FALLIS

After reading it a few weeks ago, I must admit that I needed some time to write about ’s new novel, “A New Season,” after reading it a few weeks ago. This is probably because Terry struck several chords in this book that personally resonate with me. In exploring aging, loss, family, friendship, and love, Terry used his unique talent of weaving different apparently unrelated themes into a beautiful, harmonized fabric that carries the story he wants to tell.

Being a male in his mid-fifties, I closely relate to Jack McMaster. I, too, feel like I am in my twenties, but the list of things that remind me of my biological age keeps growing. I also lost my mom to COVID last year, and similar to Jack, I was 10,000 kilometres away and couldn't see her or even talk to her in her last few days as she was on oxygen and then on a ventilator. Like Annie, my mom went very quickly, and it was probably the best for her but the hardest for everyone close to her. Jack's grief resulted in leaning on his son, which transformed their relationship, something I experienced with my brother after our mom's passing.

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This was really interesting as Terry kept beautifully exploring the warmth of male friendship further through the special bond between Jack and his close-knit circle within his ball hockey league. With their support, Jack would more easily negotiate the difficulties of loss and the resulting changes in his life. Against the cultural richness of Egypt, where I come from, where male friendships are a common and celebrated aspect of social life, "A New Season" reflects on the everlasting realities of companionship, loyalty, and the reassuring solidity of enduring friendships, which showcase, the heart and resilience that male friendships provide amid the swirling tides of life's uncertainties; a theme rarely talked about in Canada and Western culture in general.

Terry is as tender and humorous as always, and his sentimental style is magnified by the presence of Paris in the story. Love surely is in the air whenever the city of lights is mentioned. He never "departure" from his own style, yet in this story, Terry dives deep inside each of us, making the narrator, Jack McMaster, feel like our inner voice.

This makes "A New Season" a touching and relatable read for anyone who values the profound impact of friendship in navigating life's ups and downs.

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