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list price: $26.95
edition:Paperback
also available: eBook
category: Fiction
published: Oct 2023
ISBN:9781770416376
publisher: ECW Press

Far Creek Road

A Novel

by Lesley Krueger

tagged: coming of age, family life, historical, literary
Description

“With the charming and very funny Tink, Krueger has created an unforgettable character whose innocent curiosity busts through the societal conventions of early 1960s Canada. This is a masterful depiction of an atmosphere tense with fear and fuelled by grownup transgressions, where adult morality is contaminated by politics that tear communities apart.” — Sheila Murray, author of Finding Edward

It’s 1961, and Mary Alice (Tink) Parker lives with her parents in a Vancouver suburb where many fathers are traumatized veterans of the Second World War and almost all the mothers are housewives. They believe they’ve earned secure and prosperous lives after the sacrifices they made during the war. But under the conformist veneer seethe conflicts and secrets that make the serenity of Grouse Valley precarious.

This is the story of the unravelling of a neighbourhood. It’s told by Tink, an eccentric child who is funny, observant, and impossibly nosy, who has an unnerving tendency to blurt whatever’s on her mind. Bucolic at first, the story darkens as McCarthy-era paranoia infects the adults and spills over into the lives of the children. The parents of Tink’s best friend Norman are schoolteachers with leftist beliefs. When the Cuban Missile Crisis threatens, Norman’s parents face a witch hunt while the boy becomes a target of bullies. Tink does her best to defend Norman. But as she looks for help, she stumbles on a web of secrets that triggers events beyond anyone’s control. Gripping and perceptive, the novel portrays a divided era with eerie similarities to our own.

About the Author

Lesley Krueger

Contributor Notes

Lesley Krueger is an award-winning author and screenwriter. She has written six novels, including Mad Richard and Time Squared, two collections of short stories, and a travel memoir. She lives in Toronto, ON.

Editorial Review

“With the charming and very funny nine-year-old Tink, Krueger has created an unforgettable character whose innocent curiosity busts through the societal conventions of early 1960s Canada. This is a masterful depiction of an atmosphere tense with fear and fuelled by grown-up transgressions, where adult morality is contaminated by politics that tear communities apart.” — Sheila Murray, author of Finding Edward

“The character of Tink is especially well-drawn as she observes much and understands little...This engrossing book sets the simplicity of friendship between two children against a framework of international politics.” — Historical Novel Society

Far Creek Road is a wonderfully written novel, with full and rich characters, a delightful narrator, and very much the adult version of those Judy Blume stories we loved as kids...The background politics are skillfully written in the way so many of us experienced the world as kids: these things were happening and leaked into our lives in ways we didn’t entirely understand. It was a treat to be able to kick off my reading year with Far Creek Road out of the gate.” — STARRED REVIEW, The Miramichi Reader

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