Several years ago, sitting in a comfortable living room in the suburbs of Glasgow, Scotland, I picked up the book that was to be next month's choice of our Book Group. Idly turning it over I read that it was set in Turtle Valley, British Columbia. I had a real double-take! The mists of 40 years parted and I found my 'required reading', The Cure For Death By Lightning, was, indeed, set in my home territory - the Shuswap.
For the record, the Book Group greatly enjoyed the novel with one particular topic being greatly discussed: what, exactly, is a coyote?!!!
Her fictional style is described as 'Pacific Northwest Gothic' by The Boston Globe. Her latest novel Turtle Valley, published by Knopf Canada, came out September 8, 2007.
A summary of her work, taken (with permission) from her website here, states:
"Gail Anderson-Dargatz's novels have been published worldwide in English and in many other languages. A Recipe for Bees and The Cure for Death by Lighting were international bestsellers, and were both short-listed for the prestigious Giller Prize in Canada.
The Cure for Death by Lightning won the UK's Betty Trask Prize among other awards. A Rhinestone Button was a national bestseller in Canada and her first book, The Miss Hereford Stories, was short-listed for the Leacock Award for humour."
She currently teaches fiction in the creative writing optional-residency MFA (Master of Fine Arts) program here at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, and lives in the Shuswap, the landscape found in so much of her writing.
An excellent video of her talking about how landscape influences her writing is here.
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Photos from her website used with permission.
A summary of her work, taken (with permission) from her website here, states:
"Gail Anderson-Dargatz's novels have been published worldwide in English and in many other languages. A Recipe for Bees and The Cure for Death by Lighting were international bestsellers, and were both short-listed for the prestigious Giller Prize in Canada.
The Cure for Death by Lightning won the UK's Betty Trask Prize among other awards. A Rhinestone Button was a national bestseller in Canada and her first book, The Miss Hereford Stories, was short-listed for the Leacock Award for humour."
She currently teaches fiction in the creative writing optional-residency MFA (Master of Fine Arts) program here at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, and lives in the Shuswap, the landscape found in so much of her writing.
An excellent video of her talking about how landscape influences her writing is here.
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Photos from her website used with permission.
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