Homesick

“One has only to read the first page of Guy Vanderhaeghe’s Homesick to see why his books have garnered him international awards…” – Regina Leader-Post “If great art is that which holds a mirror up to nature, as was once said, then Homesick is great art.” – Daily News (Halifax) “[Vanderhaeghe’s characters] lift themselves by pride and love from the ordinariness of their world.” – Ottawa Citizen “Vanderhaeghe has an unerring eye for the prairie landscape and a shrewd ear for the ironies of small-town conversation… He balances his dramatization of the cycle of life with exuberant storytelling…” – London Free Press “His stories and novels are character studies par excellence…” – Andreas Schroeder “Guy Vanderhaeghe writes about what he knows best: people, their sense of mortality, their difficulty in being good during a difficult time… The dialogue and the characters are eclectic and real.” – Vancouver Sun “Beautifully written… Vanderhaeghe writes in a spare, poetic prose that is deceptively simple. He uses his medium very effectively to capture both the icy harshness and the warmth of family life… Homesick is an unexpectedly powerful work… His extraordinary talents deserve wide recognition.” – Whig-Standard (Kingston) It is the summer of 1959, and in a prairie town in Saskatchewan, Alec Monkman waits for his estranged daughter to come home, with the grandson he has never seen. But this is an uneasy reunion. Fiercely independent, Vera has been on her own since running away at nineteen – first to the army, and then to Toronto. Now, for the sake of her young son, she must swallow her pride and return home after seventeen years. As the story gradually unfolds, the past confronts the present in unexpected ways as the silence surrounding Vera's brother is finally shattered and the truth behind Vera's long absence revealed. With its tenderness, humour, and vivid evocation of character and place, Homesick confirms Guy Vanderhaeghe's reputation as one of Canada's most engaging and accomplished storytellers.