Welcome to Litsy!

It‘s a cozy mystery with three butlers… and none of the butlers are responsible for the murder. Helen—a former Buddhist nun and recent graduate of butler school—investigates a murder at a fictional meditation retreat centre which is based on the real Hollyhock of Cortes Island off the coast of British Columbia. Amusing fluff with a really great central character. #ShadowGiller2022 #CanadianAuthor

It‘s hard for me to pick a favourite story because every one of them is strong in this debut collection by Helen Chau Bradley, a queer Canadian author who uses they/them pronouns. The two I will probably think about the most are the title story, which is about becoming dependent on a particular ASMR video channel; and the final story, which is about an all-women punk band on tour. #LGBTQ #CanLit #ShadowGiller2022

This epic historical novel goes way back in time in India, imagining the life of a prince who became the Buddha. He left all worldly goods & responsibilities behind—including his wife & infant son—and spent years meditating & wandering. So what about his wife Yasodhara? The main viewpoint is hers and kept me captivated throughout. She became so real to me & I suffered along with her. A fine audiobook with richly evoked setting & Buddhist ideas.

I love the fierce MC Nadia, who was captured by pirates as a girl, sold into slavery, & then freed herself, which is where this immersive fantasy begins. It‘s a standalone, with ties to Kay‘s earlier novels set in the same alternate history Mediterranean & Middle Eastern world, where 3 religions parallel our 3 western faiths. Geopolitics, war & romance. Just a touch of the fantastical (which mainly serves as a plot device). Audio by Simon Vance.

Dark, funny and subversive. This fairytale-like novel set in 19th c Montreal has playful parallels to the French Revolution, transposing male historical figures into female characters. The frenemies around which the plot swirls show how passionate & how cruel girls can be to each other. Women‘s labour rights are another important aspect to the story; combined with the lesbian erotic elements, it brings Tipping the Velvet to mind. #CanLit #LGBTQ

A strong narrative propels this time travel tale, bringing all the pieces neatly together at the end, yet leaving me with a delightful sense of wonder & the question: What is reality? Also delightful: walk-ons by characters from The Glass Hotel, plus an obviously autobiographical section (set in 2203) about an author (who lives on a moon colony) touring one of her previous novels (about a pandemic) because it‘s being made into a film. #Canadian

Light touches of science fiction, horror or fantastical elements give these twelve tightly-wrought stories an unsettling quality. My favourites include Liddy, First to Fly—a girl grows wings; June Bugs—a nightmarish beetle infestation; and Do You Remember Candy—the generational divide regarding nostalgia for the taste of food. #CanadianAuthor #shadowgiller2022

“Tonight, ghosts of misery will invite themselves in & feast upon my sorrow, leaving me in hunger & solitude.”
Lebanese Canadian Rawi Hage taps into quiet desperation & the absurdity of humanity in his new collection of stories. The protagonists—eccentric intellectuals, dreamers, sad clownish men—have the temperament & peculiar ideas that keep them out of step with other people. Dark humour & exquisite prose kept me enthralled. #shadowgiller2022

“How could she explain it? That there was something whole she wanted severed. Something clean she needed soiled.” The grief-struck central character is in bad shape, having escaped her old life but unable to escape herself. I had difficulty feeling compassion as I witnessed her self-sabotaging behaviour. What I found missing from the prose is some up-and-downess, if you know what I mean. Something to relieve the bleak flatness. #shadowGiller2022

A feel-good Christmas ghost story set in contemporary Edmonton, mid-pandemic. Rags to riches, multiple points of view, multiple ghosts. Charles Dickens would probably approve. I certainly did. #Audiobook read by Jennifer Wigmore. #Canadian #ShadowGiller2022