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Crown Shyness is a rarity in Canadian literature-a novel where family tensions, and romance, manifest themselves politically. Curtis Gillespie explores right-fringe Alberta politics with an insider's savvy and a terrifying amount at stake for his characters. A powerful first novel.
-Fred Stenson, author of Lonesome Hero, Lightning |
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Curtis Gillespie has written a dark and compassionate novel full of the ruptures that tear families apart and the indestructible bonds that hold them together. This is a novel about truth and the sacrifices it demands, love and forgiveness. Gillespie puts the Christian right-wing in his cross-hairs, and with stunning accuracy and deep moral rigour, brings it down. Here is a novel alive with suspense, told with mastery.
-Lisa Moore, author of Alligator
"Crown shyness, he says. That's what they call it. Survival thing. At the top of the canopy, the branches don't want to hurt one another, so they developed this way to not touch at the tips when they're growing. Even in rough weather, they sway and blow all over, but they'll never damage one another, or at least not much. "
Paul Munk is an idealist, socially conscious, left-leaning in his political convictions. His skills as a writer for a current affairs magazine have garnered him an assignment that will challenge his relationships, present and future: to follow and profile Daniel Code, a member of the religious right who knows he has been called upon by God to be a political leader. A growing attraction to Code's daughter-and media handler-Rachel, complicates Paul's intent to cast light on what he believes to be the candidate's intolerance.
Paul's family, disconnected by many of the same issues of faith and politics, is forced to adjust to one son's release from prison. Rick Munk, Paul's older brother, has served his time and is now intent on rebuilding his life with a Montana woman who wants to return to Canada. When Rick crosses the US border and loses contact with his family, Paul follows his trail, hoping to find his brother and save a relationship able to survive their differences.
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