Sugarmilk Falls - Ilona Van Mil

The isolated Canadian town of Sugarmilk Falls is wary of outsiders. As the thick snow of a winter's night sets in, the inhabitants of this close-knit community gather together, induced by a questioning stranger to talk about the sinister events of twenty years past . . .

Did it all begin when Grand'mre Osweken, an Indian shaman, lost the maple forests in a game of craps? Or with the arrival of the mysterious schoolteacher Marina Grochowska?

Perhaps it really started with woodsman Zack Guillem's discovery of something strange in the wilderness, or with the town's controversial debate about Prohibition. And why has Father Souris refused to attend the gathering? As gossip turns to fear and fear to blame, the babbling voices of the Sugarmilk try to make sense of the dark events that have taken hold of their town.

Beautifully crafted and darkly compelling, this is an extraordinary debut that captures the spirit and repression of a blighted community as it slowly turns in on itself.