Charles and Addington Gaunt must find their free-spirited brother, Simon, who has gone missing in the wilds of the American West. They enlist the services of a guide to lead them on their journey across a harsh and unknown landscape. This is the enigmatic Jerry Potts, half Blackfoot, half Scottish, who suffers his own painful past. They are joined by Lucy Stoveall, a woman filled with rage and sorrow over the loss of her young sister Madge who was brutally murdered. She is on a vengeful mission to track down and kill the murderous Kelso brothers. The group is joined by a jumble of other characters en route, each of whom are forced to confront their own demons. But at the novel's centre is a love story. Vanderhaeghe glides effortlessly through the patois and frontier talk, faultlessly switching from cultured English characters to American roughnecks to Scots-Canadians, and the natural prairie landscape is evoked brilliantly. Vanderhaeghe's new novel is an epic masterpiece that solidifies his place as one of Canada's best storytellers.
Guy Vanderhaeghe is the author of six books of fiction. THE ENGLISHMAN'S BOY (1996) was a long-time national bestseller and won the Governer General's Award for Fiction, the Saskatchewan Book Award for Fiction and for Best Book of the Year and was shortlisted for the Giller Prize.
Superb set-pieces
SUNDAY TELEGRAPH
Brute savagery, high jinks and a great deal of blackish humour
SPECTATOR
For those who have not discovered him yet, Vanderhaeghe is an exciting new frontier.
SUNDAY TRIBUNE
A rich and emotionally vital novel- a treat to read.
OBSERVER