Tyler Trafford
Futuristic dysfunction merged with a mystery plot and small town intrigue.
Merilyn tells this story through an unusual litereary device. She introduces us to three characters, one at time, without references to each other.
She gives up subtle clues as to how these misfits could connect inside the town’s dark dynamics, then offers hints of a much larger mystery : a pandemic without a known cause has culled the population and left a large percentage of the still-standing infertile.
It's easy to think you’ve figured out how the characters will connect and disarm the pandemic, if that's even possible.
You'll be fooled, unless you are the Sherlock Holmes of literary puzzles. Believe me, as well, that you’ll enjoy this one.
If you want to feel your heart breaking, read this book about the families starved and forced from Ukraine during Stalin's reign of terror. You'll know what courage is.
It's based on a true story and the drama is all real.
5.0 out of 5 stars A Very Canadian Story
Reviewed in Canada on October 29, 2022
Joni MacFarlane's writing parachutes us into Canada's dark days during World War II. In detailed scene after scene, we see lives unravel on the home front. Mistakes compound mistakes as individuals struggle to hold onto a vanishing normalcy. Money and love are spent unwisely and the consequences are devastating. One beautiful mistake changes everything and, momentarily, the sun shines through the clouds. Thank you, Joni, for the impressive research and thoughts you have put into telling this story.