Matters of life and death
Captivating novel based on true story from Weyburn hospital, Pat St. Germain writes.
Rabbit Foot Bill Helen Humphreys Harpercollins Canada
Gently captivating, Helen Humphreys’s latest novel is like the proverbial still waters — deceptively deep and prone to dangerous undercurrents.
Based on a true story, the novel opens in 1947, in a small Saskatchewan town where 12-yearold Leonard Flint has come to idolize a local hermit nicknamed Rabbit Foot Bill. A lonely, bullied child with a harsh home life, Leonard shadows Bill wherever he goes, tagging along while he performs odd jobs in the town and traps rabbits near the primitive hideaway he shares with his dogs. But their friendship comes to an abrupt end when Bill commits a shocking, violent crime in Leonard’s presence.
Fast-forward 15 years, and Leonard is fresh out of medical school, arriving for his first job as a psychiatrist at the Weyburn Mental Hospital. It does not go well. The hospital staff are experimenting with LSD, his boss’s wife takes a prurient interest in the new recruit, and Leonard is fatally distracted from his duties when he discovers Rabbit Foot Bill is an inmate, having been transferred from a penitentiary some years earlier. Haunted by vague memories from his childhood, the young doctor becomes obsessed with uncovering the truth about his past and his earlier relationship with Bill.
Compact, compulsive reading, the story takes an even darker turn in the third act, as Leonard comes to terms with disturbing facts about his family history and how it intersects with Bill’s path in life.
Based in Kingston, Ont., deservedly revered Can-lit star Humphreys (Coventry, Machine Without Horses) credits Dr. Hugh Lafave — one-time superintendent of the Weyburn hospital — with sharing the true story that inspired this book.
The Company We Keep Frances Itani Harpercollins Canada
Three years after her husband’s death, an elderly widow named Hazzley decides to spark change in her life. So she posts a community notice at the local grocery store, inviting people to join her Grief Discussion Group, set for Tuesday evenings in the backroom of a friend’s café. In due course, five people take her up on it, including Gwen, a 60-ish widow who is bird-sitting a parrot named Rico; Chiyo, a 40-year-old fitness instructor who was her late mother’s caregiver; Addie, who is prematurely grieving for a terminally ill friend; Tom, a widower who is lured to the first meeting by the prospect of free food; and Allam, a Syrian refugee. Over the course of several months, they tell their stories, share laughter, shed tears and ultimately, find a way to move on.
Based in Ottawa, Itani is the author of some 18 books, including the 2019 novel That’s My Baby and award-winning 2003 bestseller Deafening.
Dark August Katie Tallo Harper Perennial
Screenwriter turned novelist Katie Tallo has an instant hit on her hands with this summer thriller. Heroine Augusta (Gus) Monet moves back to her hometown after her grandmother dies, leaving her a ramshackle house and an old dog named Levi. Having lost her police-detective mother to a car accident many years earlier, Gus is intrigued when she finds her mom’s cold-case files in the basement, and when someone whose name appears in those files turns up dead, she becomes dangerously fixated on solving a long-standing mystery.