Raincoast Books
Available: 08/31/04
5 1/4 x 8 · 380 pages
978-1-55192-719-0
CDN $34.95 · cl

Canadian Title

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Sointula

Bill Gaston

Shortlisted: Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize, BC Book Prizes

At the heart of Sointula is Evelyn, a middle-aged woman who abandons her privileged existence. She throws away the trappings of her civilized life—her antidepressants and her air ticket home, her wallet and most of the clothes off her back—steals a kayak and embarks on a quest that takes her deep into the wilderness. The goal: to find Tom—her strange, damaged son—in the remote village of Sointula. Equal parts light and dark, compassion and irony, this is Gaston’s most mature work.

“Gaston is a writer of great empathy, capable, it seems, of getting beneath the skin of anybody ... His language is pure, his concerns humane.” —2002 Giller Prize Jury

“Gaston is one of this country’s outstanding literary treasures.” —Globe and Mail

“Gaston is a hugely skilled storyteller, but describing the technical tools he uses here—Gore as historical commentator, thematic balance of past/present, wild/tamed, et cetera—would feel like explaining a magic trick, and equally disloyal to his art.” —Georgia Straight

“The author is a master at creating characters with deft understatement and dead right dialogue.” —January Magazine

“Each new book by Bill Gaston reminds us that he is one of our best writers — original, versatile, skilled, wise, surprising, and fearless. In Sointula he travels elegantly — navigating below the surface of things as he tracks two troubled souls on their separate journeys north to an uncertain future. In joining him, the reader is rewarded on every page.” —Jack Hodgins

Bill Gaston is the author of The Good Body and Mount Appetite. He is the recipient of the inaugural Timothy Findley Award, given by the Writers Trust of Canada to a male writer for a distinguished body of work. Gaston lives in Victoria.