Seventeen-year-old Early Okander lives with his father in a shack, a white family on the outskirts of the Halifax community of Africville. It is the early 1960s, and Early and his young friends, Toby and Chub, start to hear whispers that the city wants to move the residents of Africville out of their homes. As the three try to sort out what relocation might mean for the community, they also struggle to come to terms with their own problems: Early's abuse at the hands of his father, Toby's illness, Chub's family breakdown.

Written from Early's unique perspetive, Big Town is an unforgettable account of a community in crisis and the remarkable spirit that persists in the face of adversity.

Stephens Gerard Malone was a child of military bases and once walllpapered a Toronto apartment with publishers' rejection letters. He's the author of five novels, including BIg Town, Nimbus Publishing/Vagarant Press. His novel of rural angst, Miss Elva, was shortlisted for the Dartmouth Book Award. While the world-renowned gardens in The History of Rain may be fabulous, his is not. Stephens writes in Nova Scotia with his chow chows, living and remembered.

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