Bursting with wonder and delicate despair, Serrie Sullivan longs for the world, but she's trapped, just like Dorothy in Oz. Serrie's got a nasty secret. It's festering inside her, because in the gothic Annapolis Valley, hey, that's what you do -- you never show and you never, ever tell. As she dashes from her wedding altar on the run of her life, ardently wanting to understand what has brought her to this moment, Serrie sweeps us up in an exhilarating and poignant journey from rural Nova Scotia to London bars, to strip clubs by the docks, through mental hospital wards and rehab centres, back to quiet verandahs and porch swings in serene Lupin Cove. Along the way we meet a delightful array of off-beat characters including Serrie's best friends, Dearie and Elizabeth: Dearie, the anglicized Acadian who wants to go to New Orleans to find her Cajun relatives, and Elizabeth, who would like nothing better than to spend the rest of her life picking strawberries. Heave explores the joys and agonies of family, of what one generation inherits from the next, and of how past and present are inexorably linked. Memories weave through the book as Serrie searches for equanimity in a life that intoxicates her with its beauty as it knocks her to her knees.

Heave

Literature & Fiction

Conlin, Christy-Ann

World Literature

Anchor Canada

Haunting gothic elements are exquisitely re-imagined in this strange tale of madness, murder and dark secrets set on the rugged Bay of Fundy coast by the acclaimed author of Heave. The Memento tells the story of Fancy Mosher as she lives and works in the servants' quarters at Petal's End, a formerly illustrious private land surrounded by dense forest belonging to the famed Parker family. Since the Great War, the estate has been slowly crumbling at the same rate as the family's reputation. Fancy grows up listening to her family's ghost stories and watching the Parkers from a safe distance with her best friend, Art, but the summer she turns twelve she not only learns that her family has been hiding a terrifying truth about who she is and what she is capable of, she also begins to experience firsthand the magnitude of secrets and horrors held within the estate's walls and buried in its lush gardens--secrets and lies that come to haunt Fancy and the large, fabulous cast of Petal's End, all of whom refuse to move on from a dying way of life. Christy Ann Conlin gives us a lyrical and chilling meditation on human nature and the manner of recollection in this captivating ghost story where webs of memories haunt and distort reality and ultimately destroy those who weave them.

The Memento

Literary

Doubleday, Canada

Review\n“[Christy Ann Conlin] uses breathtaking prose to explore insidious commodification of women, ruthlessly deconstructing stereotypes of female capability, worth, ageism, and mental illness … The Speed of Mercy is a stunning literary work. Conlin’s writing is nothing short of brilliant, and her ability to create characters who are flawed, mercurial and magnetic is effortless.” ― Globe and Mail\n“[Christy Ann Conlin has] a truly distinctive voice … [The Speed of Mercy] features characters you don’t usually see: older, rural women.” ― Toronto Star\n“Eerie and timeless, this powerful story about trauma, resilience, and finding your voice proves powerfully relevant for 2021 … Conlin shows a remarkable ability to evoke an atmosphere of fear and uncertainty.” ― Winnipeg Free Press\n“Written with the intrigue of a thriller and executed with the mystical grace of poetry, The Speed of Mercy is a fierce and thoughtful novel about trauma, healing, and the tender covenant made between survivors.” ― Quill & Quire\n“Dark family secrets, the lore of the sea, and a tender, protective friendship between women all converge in The Speed of Mercy, an unusual and surprising story set in idyllic rural Nova Scotia. With subtle humour, Conlin picks the locks on the long-closed doors of two families and bares the ugly, painful skeletons everyone knew were there but chose to hide.” ― Sylvia D. Hamilton, author of And I Alone Escaped To Tell You 
The Speed of Mercy captures the unbearable cost of childhood betrayal and what happens when history is suppressed, our past is forgotten ― yet finding the truth can change the future. Christy Ann Conlin rips into the myths and stereotypes about older women and those on the edge of conventional society to reveal the timeless gift of mercy in this feminist tour de force. 
“Christy Ann Conlin is a conjurer: of place, people, and the haunting past. I was instantly caught up in the darkly mysterious world and indelible characters she has brought to life. Gripping, suspenseful, and lyrically written, The Speed of Mercy caught me by the throat and didn’t let go.” ― Alix Ohlin, Scotiabank Giller Prize–shortlisted author of Dual Citizens

The Speed of Mercy

House of Anansi Press

In these evocative and startling stories, we meet people navigating the elemental forces of love, life, and death. An insomniac on Halifax’s moonlit streets. A runaway bride. A young woman accused of a brutal murder. A man who must live in exile if he is to live at all. A woman coming to terms with her eccentric childhood in a cult on the Bay of Fundy shore.
A master of North Atlantic Gothic, Christy Ann Conlin expertly navigates our conflicting self-perceptions, especially in moments of crisis. She illuminates the personality of land and ocean, charts the pull of the past on the present, and reveals the wildness inside each of us. These stories offer a gallery of both gritty and lyrical portraits, each unmasking the myth and mystery of the everyday.

Watermark

Astoria

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Conlin, Christy-Ann. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Conlin, Christy-Ann

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Conlin, Christy-Ann. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Heave

The Memento

The Speed of Mercy

Watermark