John V. Hicks Long Manuscript Award, 2019
City of Saskatoon/Saskatoon Public Library Saskatoon Award, 2021
Saskatchewan Book Awards
Glengarry Book Award Jury Short List, Recognition of Literary Excellence, 2021
Physical and emotional isolation shape the Burke family story in the 1920s and 1930s when homesteaders scratched out a new existence on the western Canadian prairie. William, an adventurer from New Zealand, brings his city bride Louise to the freshly broken earth of his farm near Watrous, Saskatchewan. Their story unfolds against the sweep of Saskatchewan prairie, and with the birth of a son, the couple believes their future is optimistic. Then Violet, the child born ‘feebleminded,’ plunges her mother—a woman burdened with a secret—back to a time of guilt and regret. The child draws out goodness–and weakness–in farmers Nik and Hanusia Yuzik, and and loyalty in neighbours Hank and Emily. But tragedy and an unspeakable betrayal by William’s trusted friend upend the Burke family, taking all these characters at breakneck speed toward forgiveness and the realization that no one is infallible. So many choices, seemingly insignificant decisions, and twists of fate all have their reckonings. Based on a true story, the novel most recently won a 2021 Saskatchewan Book Award. Writer Alice Kuipers calls it “a stunning exploration of love, disability, family, and loss.” Novelist Anne Simpson says it is a “graceful, poignant debut novel,” a story told with “compelling power.” It won the 2019 John V. Hicks Award for Fiction; judges Elisabeth de Mariaffi and Rabindranath Maharaj as an “intricately-told, historical novel (with) modern connotations broaching our current conversation around trauma, consent, and sexual assault… Scenes linger, and resonate in the mind.”
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