Winnipeg, 1919. The Winnipeg General Strike, the Spanish influenza and a sociopathic personality coalesce to forge a summer of strife, death and hope for a community still suffering the pestilence of the first world war. Can bacteriologist Dr. Anna Williams, driven by the need to prove herself in a predominantly male research lab and responding to a panicky public health department, overcome the resistant attitudes of her male colleagues, to unlock the mysteries surrounding the deadly influenza virus? Will the infamous Committee of One Thousand subvert the intentions of the strike leaders and the growing union movement and prevent the spread of Bolshevism upon Canadian soil? Will Earle Nelson, a murderous sociopath and righteous zealot, force his will upon those he perceives as undesirable and unacceptable? Follow Klyne’s story as he leads you through the streets of Winnipeg – reliving historical events with brilliant character creations whose intricate paths of emotions, ideas and conflicts culminated in what became known as Bloody Saturday.
The Silent March, by C.M. Klyne: And Why I Second Guessed Posting My Review of It.
an excerpt:
"Any story set during the Winnipeg General Strike of 1919 is going to wind up advancing a perspective on those events. One of the characters which embodies the authors sympathies is fictional Mayor Charles Ross. Over the course of the story he seeks to balance between the workers and the capitalists of the infamous “Committee of One Thousand.” To paraphrase the Marxist Trotsky, however, and as the experience of the Mayor’s character attests, the danger of seeking to walk down the middle of the road is that you are likely to get hit by traffic going in both directions. "
Meticulously researched and impeccably construed, The Silent Mark, is an excellent book about the Labour Union Strike and the epidemic of Spanish influenza in Winnipeg, in the early 1900. The protagonists of those, very important historical events, interplay intricately in escalating suspense, in political dissonance and chaos, with twists and turns that keeps you nailed to your seat until the very last page.
This compelling story allows us to travel back to a time when people in our province fought hard for the right to better life and working conditions. Merle has brought life to the characters and you actually feel like you are sitting in the rooms with them watching the story unfold with bated breath.