Sointula

By Bill Gaston

Book Overview

Summoned to the deathbed of a long-ago lover, Evelyn is overcome by emotion. Off her medications, she impulsively steals a kayak and embarks on a quest that takes her deep into the Canadian wilderness in order to find her lost son, Tom. On the way to Sointula, a remote fishing village off Vancouver Island, she gains a traveling companion, Peter Gore, a writer working on the quintessential book on the region. Stymied by illness, writer's block, and whiskey, Peter makes an unlikely and unreliable shipmate and paramour. Tom, the survivor of a gunshot wound that slowed his speech and his drug-dealing, finds solace in his isolated life, collecting data for a whale researcher. As Evelyn and Peter approach, Tom waits for the whales'irregular visits to the water's edge. Like the novels of David Malouf and Jonathan Raban, Sointula is a celebration of place, a novel where the landscape comes as fully alive as its memorable characters. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1551928434
• ISBN13: 9781551928432
• Release Date: March 2006
• Publisher: Raincoast Books
• Length: 453 Pages
• Weight: 1.20 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 5.4" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

Unusually moving

The utter bizarre-ness of the characters and their choices makes this book both human and engulfing. The relationships are multi-dimensional and real. The descriptions of nature are satisfying. And the story line keeps you fully involved until the final page. I highly recommend this book!

Amazing Journey in Adult Life

The coastal images are beautiful. Development between mother and son is touching. I would suggest this book Kevin Chong's "Broque-a-Nova" for a truly canadian west coast experience. Thank you for writing such a rich book. I read about 30-40 novels a year and this one is memorable.