It is the year 1934, and in a small town in Canada, Clara Callan reluctantly takes leave of her sister, Nora, who is bound for the show business world of New York. It's a time when people escape from reality through radio and the movies, when the Dionne Quints make headlines, when the growing threat of fascism in Europe is a constant worry, and the two sisters -- vastly different in personality yet inextricably linked by a shared past -- try to find their place within the complex web of social expectations for young women in the 1930s.While Nora embarks on a glamorous career as a radio soap opera star, Clara, a strong and independent-minded woman, struggles to observe the ...

Clara Callan: A novel

Literature & Fiction

Wright, Richard Bruce

World Literature

HarperflamingoCanada

It is one of those rare novels that readers describe as having "changed my life." First published in the early 1970s, The Weekend Man immediately established Richard B. Wright as a fresh and powerful new voice in North American fiction. Now, with his 1995 double nomination for the Giller Prize and the Governor General's Award for The Age of Longing, Richard B. Wright continues to connect strongly with his audience.  A textbook publishing salesman whose life seems poised continually on the verge of free-fall, 30-year-old Wes Wakeham waffles between fighting the sad nostalgia of his past and the certain failure of his future. Shot through with the ironies of urban life, love and lust. The Weekend Man is as relevant in the '90s as it was in the '70s.

The Weekend Man

Farrar. Straus & Giroux

The weekend man

In a small town in Canada, Clara Callan reluctantly takes leave of her sister, Nora, who is bound for New York. It's a time when the growing threat of fascism in Europe is a constant worry, and people escape from reality through radio and the movies. Meanwhile, the two sisters -- vastly different in personality, yet inextricably linked by a shared past -- try to find their places within the complex web of social expectations for young women in the 1930s. While Nora embarks on a glamorous career as a radio-soap opera star, Clara, a strong and independent-minded woman, struggles to observe the traditional boundaries of a small and tight-knit community without relinquishing her dreams of love, freedom, and adventure. However, things aren't as simple as they appear -- Nora's letters eventually reveal life in the big city is less exotic than it seems, and the tranquil solitude of Clara's life is shattered by a series of unforeseeable events. These twists of fate require all of Clara's courage and strength, and finally put the seemingly unbreakable bond between the sisters to the test.

Clara Callan

Contemporary

Demco Media

Farthing's fortunes

Atheneum

In the middle of a life,

Macmillan

Jan Harper, 36, lives in the basement of her mother’s suburban home. A high-school English teacher, Jan worries that she’s on the brink of wear-ing heavy walking shoes and retreating farther into her single, somewhat solitary existence. She’s just come off a failed affair with a married man, discovering she wasn’t the first mistress in his life. She’s slightly jealous of her friend Max, who’s always been “a little too flighty,” according to Jan’s mother. And the only prospect for a relationship comes colored in the dull gray form of Bruce, a fellow teacher. So it’s a complete surprise to Jan when a darkly handsome man insists on stepping into her tidy suburban world. James is younger, unemployed, has a prison record and a passion for his Trans-Am— complete with fuzzy dice. He also has a passion for Jan, although Jan has seri-ous doubts about a future with him. There’s something about James that both charms and repels her—an unpredictability that’s about to shatter both of their lives. Once again, Richard B. Wright has shown that he is the master of brilliantly realized characters and evocative story-telling that shines in the details. This is a novel of collision, Jan from her sterile middle-class world and James from his seedy shadow one, both searching for love and wholeness. Richard B. Wright fans will not be disappointed.

The teacher's daughter

Literary

Macmillan of Canada

James Hillyer, a retired university professor, is now barely existing after the death of his beloved daughter in her forties. On a whim, he tries to locate the woman he fell in love with so many years ago on a summer trip to Quebec and through the magic of the Internet he is able to find her. But Odette s present existence seems to be haunted by ghosts from her own past, in particular, the tough ex-con Raoul, with his long-standing grievances and the beginnings of dementia. The collision of past and present leads to violence nobody could have predicted and alters the lives of James and Odette forever."

Nightfall

Platinum Spotlight Series

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Books by Wright, Richard Bruce