Best of
Canada

1998

Homecoming


Carolyne Aarsen - 1998
    Can a trip to the ranch give her a second chance with both? Sheryl Kyle isn’t the trusting type. After all, her abusive late husband and her disapproving stepfather haven’t given her much reason to feel otherwise. But when a rugged rancher named Mark seeks her out she learns her stepfather is on his deathbed. And his dying wish is for her to return to Sweet Creek for one last chance to reconcile…Mark can’t help but be fascinated by Sheryl. Despite hearing the worst about her from her stepbrother, he’s drawn to the hauntingly beautiful woman. When his ranching partner suffers an injury at the worst possible time, he’s surprised and delighted that Sheryl agrees to work by his side…As Sheryl and Mark’s friendship deepens, she suppresses her growing feelings toward him. Can she forgive her family and herself before Mark too becomes a man of her past?Homecoming is the first book in the Sweet Creek Series of Christian romances. If you like chemistry on the ranch, moving tales of redemption, and second chances, then you’ll love Carolyne Aarsen’s tale of old wounds and new loves. Buy Homecoming today to rediscover the sweetness of life at Sweet Creek

The Love of a Good Woman


Alice Munro - 1998
    In this brilliant new collection she takes mainly the lives of women - unruly, ungovernable, unpredictable, unexpected, funny, sexy and completely recognisable - and brings their hidden desires bubbling to the surface. The love of a good woman is not as pure and virtuous as it seems: as in her title story it can be needy and murderous. Here are women behaving badly, leaving husbands and children, running off with unsuitable lovers, pushing everyday life to the limits, and if they don't behave badly, they think surprising and disturbing thoughts.

Stolen Life: Journey Of A Cree Woman


Rudy Wiebe - 1998
    This is a story about justice, and terrible injustices, a story about a murder, and a courtroom drama as compelling as any thriller as it unravels the events that put Yvonne Johnson behind bars for life, first in Kingston's Federal Prison for Women until the riot that closed it, and presently in the Okimaw Ochi Healing Lodge in the Cypress Hills. But above all it is the unforgettable true story of the life of a Native woman who has decided to speak out and break the silence, written with the redeeming compassion that marks all Rudy Wiebe's writing, and informed throughout by Yvonne Johnson's own intelligence and poetic eloquence.Characters and events spring to life with the vividness of fiction. The story is told sometimes in the first person by Rudy Wiebe, sometimes by Yvonne herself. He tracks down the details of Yvonne's early life in Butte, Montana, as a child with a double-cleft palate, unable to speak until the kindness of one man provided the necessary operations; the murder of her beloved brother while in police custody; her life of sexual abuse at the hands of another brother, grandfather and others; her escape to Canada - to Winnipeg and Wetaskiwin; the traumas of her life thatled to alcoholism, and her slow descent into hell despite the love she found with her husband and three children.He reveals how she participated, with three others, in the murder of the man she believed to be a child abuser; he unravels the police story, taking us step by step, with jail-taped transcripts, through the police attempts to set one member of the group against the others in their search for a conviction - and the courtroom drama that followed. And Yvonne openly examines her life and, through her grandmother, comes to understand the legacy she has inherited from her ancestor Big Bear; having been led through pain to wisdom, she brings us with her to the point where she finds spiritual strength in passing on the lessons and understandings of her life. How the great-great-granddaughter of Big Bear reached out to the author of The Temptations of Big Bear to help her tell her story is itself an extraordinary tale. The co-authorship between one of Canada's foremost writers and the only Native woman in Canada serving life imprisonment for murder has produced a deeply moving, raw and honest book that speaks to all of us, and gives us new insight into the society we live in, while offering a deeply moving affirmation of spiritual healing.

The Big Score: Robert Friedland, INCO, And The Voisey's Bay Hustle


Jacquie McNish - 1998
    From the windswept Labrador coast, where the massive nickel deposit was discovered, to the boardrooms of Singapore, Toronto, and Vancouver where the giant poker game for Diamond Fields was played out, the story behind Voisey's Bay has enormous economic significance for Canada and international financial markets.One of the most intriguing elements was the takeover battle for Diamond Fields that pitted the conservative management team at the world's largest nickel company, Inco Ltd., against free-wheeling stock promoter Robert Friedland.Also playing key roles in the race for Voisey's Bay were managers from the Bronfman-controlled Edper group, prominent Wall Street and Bay Street investment houses, and leading mutual funds.

The Colony of Unrequited Dreams


Wayne Johnston - 1998
    Predictably, and almost immediately, his name retreated to the footnotes of history. And yet, as Wayne Johnston makes plain in his epic and affectionate fifth novel, The Colony of Unrequited Dreams, Smallwood's life was endearingly emblematic, an instance of an extraordinary man emerging at a propitious moment. The particular charm of Johnston's book, however, lies not merely in unveiling a career that so seamlessly coincided with the burgeoning self-consciousness of Newfoundland itself, but in exposing a simple truth--namely, that history is no more than the accretion of lived lives. Born into debilitating poverty, Smallwood is sustained by a bottomless faith in his own industry. His unabashed ambition is to "rise not from rags to riches, but from obscurity to world renown." To this end, he undertakes tasks both sublime and baffling--walking 700 miles along a Newfoundland railroad line in a self-martyring union drive; narrating a homespun radio spot; and endlessly irritating and ingratiating himself with the Newfoundland political machine. His opaque and constant incitement is an unconsummated love for his childhood friend, Sheilagh Fielding. Headstrong and dissolute, she weaves in and out of Smallwood's life like a salaried goad, alternately frustrating and illuminating his ambitions. Smallwood is harried as well by Newfoundland's subtle gravity, a sense that he can never escape the tug of his native land, since his only certainty is the island itself--that "massive assertion of land, sea's end, the outer limit of all the water in the world, a great, looming, sky-obliterating chunk of rock." The Colony of Unrequited Dreams bogs down after a time in its detailing of Smallwood's many political intrigues and in the lingering matter of a mysterious letter supposedly written by Fielding. However, when he speculates on the secret motives of his peers, or when he reveals his own hyperbolic fantasies and grandiose hopes--matters no one would ever confess aloud--the novel is both apt and amiable. Best of all is to watch Smallwood's inevitable progress toward a practical cynicism. It seems nothing less than miraculous that his countless disappointments pave the way for his ascension, that his private travails ultimately align with the land he loves. This is history resuscitated. --Ben Guterson

Hard Light


Michael Crummey - 1998
    Speaking through generations of storytellers, he conjures a world of hard toil and heavy weather, shot through with stoicism, grim humour, endurance, and love. This is writing that is supple and charged with intensity, language that vivifies --- electrifies --- whoever and whatever it describes.Michael Crummey's lucid, dexterous writing shies away from nothing, gives us the concrete particulars of daily life, the burials and butcheries, the night-time thoughts. He knows this world from the inside. -- John Steffler

Too Many to Mourn


James Mahar - 1998
    Winner of the Dartmouth Book Award, 1999.

Monster


Daniel MacIvor - 1998
    "Monster," a one-man play, begins in the total darkness of a movie theatre. After a long silence, someone in the audience rudely shushes his neighbour, and the show begins. Daniel MacIvor transforms himself into a series of characters whose lives seem eerily related. There's the young boy who tells the story of the neighbour lad who hacked up his father in the basement. There are alcoholic Al and whiny Janine, the lovers who quarrel, make up, and decide to marry after seeing a movie about a lad who...well, same thing. There's the ex-drunk who dreamed up the movie, but got no credit because he was said to have stolen the idea from a famous unfinished film, a claim that so angered him that he went back on the sauce. And there's the movie maker who made that incomplete epic.

Bush Pilot with a Briefcase: The Incredible Story of Aviation Pioneer Grant McConachie


Ronald A. Keith - 1998
    The amazing story of one of the great aviation pioneers.

The True Names of Birds


Sue Goyette - 1998
    Deeply centred in domestic life, Goyette's work is informed by a muscular lyricism. These are poems that push the limits, always true to their roots."This is a fresh new voice with a tense lyrical intelligence. This is a collection to begin everything with, a cure for silence, secrets that arrive with a steady eloquence." --Patrick Lane

Flesh & Blood: Stories


Michael Crummey - 1998
    Set largely in the small Newfoundland mining town of Black Rock, but straying as far west as Vancouver and as far east as China, these stories are subtle, stark portrayals of people alternately looking for or trying desperately to escape their place in the world.A young boy confuses love and allegiance, then stumbles into the complexities of adulthood; a brother and sister fall in love with the same woman; a frustrated wife protests her husband’s neglect by going on strike with the miners’ union; a lover’s drug habit reunites a woman with the sister she has lost.Anchor Books is proud to publish an expanded edition of Michael Crummey’s brilliant collection Flesh and Blood, which includes three original stories written just for this edition. Graceful, affecting, and generous of spirit, these stories are unforgettable.

A Woman's Self-Esteem: Struggles and Triumphs in the Search for Identity


Nathaniel Branden - 1998
    A must read!" --Barbara McFarland, psychologist and author of My Mother Was Right Based on the intimate stories of women who have struggled with issues of self-esteem, this invaluable book offers step-by-step guidance for women who want to transform themselves and create lives that are powerful, energized, and motivated.A Woman's Self-Esteem is also a guide for helping women learn the impact they can make on their own lives and how their positive actions will result in a stronger sense of competence and self-worth. A pioneer in the field of self-esteem, psychotherapist Nathaniel Branden explains that the foundation of a healthy self-esteem rests on six key practices or virtues--living consciously, self-acceptance, self-responsibility, self-assertiveness, purposeful living, and personal integrity--and reveals how women can cultivate these essential virtues to reach their full potential. The author's inspiring, real-life vignettes show how women have come to terms with these complex issues by breaking away from self-sabotaging patterns and taking the necessary steps to create more satisfying lives.In A Woman's Self-Esteem, Branden debunks common myths and reminds us that self-esteem is not a gift given to us by others. Branden offers a revealing examination of the special issues that women grapple with including romantic love, jealousy, fear of selfishness, expressing anger, defensiveness, and success anxiety. Filled with creative exercises, A Woman's Self Esteem was developed to enhance personal development and fortify self-esteem.

The Unknown Sayings of Jesus


Marvin W. Meyer - 1998
    More than fifteen hundred versions of five hundred quotations are attributed to Jesus in the New Testament, the Gospel of Thomas, and other Gospels found at Nag Hammadi. Marvin Meyer has combed additional Jewish, Muslim, and Christian sources for another 200 of the most fascinating epigrams and parables ascribed to Jesus. Dr. Meyer includes an intriguing introduction and annotations that put the sayings into perspective.

The George Grant Reader


George Parkin Grant - 1998
    The George Grant Reader is the first book to bring together in one volume a comprehensive selection of his work, allowing readers to sample the whole range of his interests.The reader includes selections from all phases of Grant's career, beginning with The Empire: Yes or No? (1945) and ending with an article on Heidegger, left unfinished at the time of his death in 1988. Forty-six essays, grouped into six sections, encompass his views on politics, morality, philosophy, education, technology, faith, and love. Also featured are Grant's writings on those who most influenced his thought, ranging from St Augustine to Karl Marx and Simone Weil. A number of his more disturbing essays are also included such as his controversial writings on abortion. The editors' substantial introduction places the articles in the wider context of Grant's life and thought.This long-overdue collection contains classic works, little-known masterpieces, and previously unpublished material. The volume is an ideal starting point for those who have never read Grant as well as an indispensable reference for Grant specialists.

Inuit Art: An Introduction


Ingo Hessell - 1998
    Engaging and authoritative, Inuit Art: An Introduction explores Inuit art from historical, cultural and aesthetic perspectives.The engrossing story begins with an outline of the roots of Inuit art in prehistoric times and through the historical period that began with the arrival of Europeans in the sixteenth century. The emergence of Inuit art as we know it came about in the late 1940s, partly through the encouragement of writer and artist James Houston, who also introduced printmaking to Inuit artists. Inspired by his support, Inuit artists quickly brought their art to life, attracting a wide audience almost overnight, and they have continued to develop and refine their work over the past fifty years. To enrich our understanding of the art, Ingo Hessel also provides descriptions of techniques and materials.

Lucy Maud Montgomery and Bala: A Love Story of the North Woods


Jack Hutton - 1998
    

The Islander


Cynthia Rylant - 1998
    With a single word, she opens the world for him, though he must puzzle out her meaning over another ten years on the wind-scoured coast of Coquille, the Pacific Northwest island upon which Daniel lives with his grandfather. This haunting, beautiful tale is a story of marvelous happenings in a young man's life.

The Fight of My Life Confessions of an Unrepentant Canadian


Maude Barlow - 1998
    Pornography. Free trade. Canadian unity. Globalization. Human rights. There isn't an issue that Maude Barlow hasn't met head on with passion and determination. She does battle with the best -- Conrad Black, Paul Martin, Brian Mulroney and Peter Lougheed are just a few of her powerful opponents. Now, in a mid-life biography that is as engaging, as spirited and as astute as its subject, Maude Barlow tells her own story -- the story of a woman who has the courage of her convictions and convictions aplenty about people, politics and her country.The Fight of My Life is the account of a "nice" middle-class girl who dared to fight the establishment -- and became a role model for an entire generation of women. She is the feminist who plunged into the "porn wars", taking on Playboy and June Callwood, who personally attacked her in The Globe and Mail. She is the political woman, a strong Liberal who was the first to sound the alarm over the party's dismantling of Canada's social programs and went on to build the Council of Canadians into the most powerful citizens' advocacy group in Canada.Realizing that the most effective change comes from outside the system, she has eschewed party politics for a life that has taken her from the slums and prisons of Mexico's infamous maquiladoras to the seat of Iraqi power on the eve of the Gulf War. Most recently, she has successfully led a global coalition to defeat the Multilateral Agreement on Investment.

No Choice: Canadian Women Tell Their Stories Of Illegal Abortion


Childbirth by Choice Trust - 1998
    Included are the stories of several doctors who performed abortions in these times. The stories are told first hand by a diverse group of 21 women who experienced the frightening underground world of backstreet abortions.

Cult of Impotence


Linda McQuaig - 1998
    

Dancing Naked: Narrative Strategies for Writing Across Centuries


Di Brandt - 1998
    Lyrical, pointed, open, and embracing, Dancing Naked also tells the story of a life lived through the direct confrontation of fear and rigidity, through to a re-visioning of community and hope. Di Brandt's essays have appeared in a variety of books and magazines across the country.

Seacoasts of Canada


Pierre Berton - 1998
    Canada is a most spectacular example of such a glorious marriage. In this sweeping look at the country he knows so well, Pierre Berton has compiled the stories of twenty-five people who have shaped our history or been shaped and influenced by the geography they found themselves contending with. He sees genius and madness in characters from all parts of the country: from Maquinna, the emperor of the rainforest who battled fellow chieftains and European invaders alike, to Robert Service, who loathed the poem that made him rich, to Mina Hubbard, the widow who raced across Labrador in long skirts to carry out her late husband's dream. Pierre Berton's Canada visits every region, adding daubs of color to our vast map. And the stunning photos that fill the book complement the stories, and explain the hardships and joys that motivated Berton's cast of characters.

Norval Morrisseau: Travels to the House of Invention


Norval Morrisseau - 1998
    This book celebrates the art and life of a remarka ble man. '

The Duchess: A.K.a Wallis Simpson


Linda Griffiths - 1998
    An extravagant and inspired epic that weaves straightforward narrative with magic realism, Griffith's play tells the story of the woman for whom Edward VIII abdicated his throne, journeying into her emotional center to reveal a plain, brash, sexual woman who danced through her ulcers and collapsed only when her cocktails ran out.

Unrehearsed Beauty


Jacob Wren - 1998
    The Artist Formerly Known As Death Waits christens his new public persona with the release of 'a series of theatrical proposals to be repeated, discarded, performed simultaneously and/or recombined in any and all possible combinations – all vaguely relating to the topic of the author's moral ambivalence.'

Challenging the Conspiracy of Silence: My Life as a Canadian Gay Activist


Jim Egan - 1998
    

Crazy Man's Creek


Jack Boudreau - 1998
    Long recognized as some of the toughest bush in British Columbia, it was home to many who chose to lose themselves.Once there, life included confrontations with grizzly bears and raids by wolves. But if men were to snap, it was the long cold winters and the deafening silence that did them in.

Queen Rat


Lynn Crosbie - 1998
    Hers is a world of Shakespeare, skinheads and centurions; and hers is a life stripped down to the basics and then reconstructed, slowly, with relish, every brick scrutinized meticulously.In Queen Rat her language is urban, but her soul is universal as she explores that which makes up everything.

Arctic Journal


Bern Will Brown - 1998
    At 28, he joined an order of missionary priests working in the Arctic, learned the language of the Hare people, mastered fishing and hunting, breeding and driving dog-teams, building igloos and making snowshoes. In 1971, Brown was married in his own log church to Margaret Steen, a part-Inuit woman where they continue to live.