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Fiction Literary

Here Comes the Dreamer

by (author) Carol Giangrande

Publisher
Inanna Publications & Education Inc.
Initial publish date
Aug 2015
Category
Literary, Contemporary Women
  • Paperback / softback

    ISBN
    9781771332507
    Publish Date
    Aug 2015
    List Price
    $19.95

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Description

Alastair Luce is a dreamer, one of three who tell this tale. A Canadian expat living in a 1950s New York City suburb, he's an artist, a quiet man who paints houses for a living, fears atomic holocaust, drinks too much and worries about his suffering child, Grace. His wife Nora is a passionate American who misses the excitement of wartime life and finds an outlet--and a lover--during the Red scare. Just before the accident that will drive so many future events, Alastair offers a ride to their teenage neighbour, Claire, who as a witness to tragedy and a wry observer of suburban mores, continues the story. Later in Toronto, Alastair's exiled daughter Grace picks up the narrative, giving voice to her fury, an artist who works to "burn" the city down with brilliant colour. All three are bound together by their history, as a crisis draws their lives to a climax. It's then that Grace ventures homeward for the first time, into a startlng vision of the unknown.

About the author

Born and raised in the New York City area, Carole Giangrande now resides in Toronto. Her novella, A Gardener On The Moon, was co-winner of the 2010 Ken Klonsky Novella Contest. She is the author of two novels, An Ordinary Star (2004) and A Forest Burning (2000) and a short story collection, Missing Persons (1994), as well as two non-fiction books: Down To Earth: The Crisis in Canadian Farming (1985) and The Nuclear North: The People, The Regions and the Arms Race (1983). Her most recent novella, Midsummer, was published to literary acclaim in 2014. She's worked as a broadcast journalist for cbc Radio, and her fiction, articles and reviews have appeared in literary journals and in Canada's major newspapers. While revising new work, she now comments as The Thoughtful Blogger (a space for interesting books and intermittent reflection), available through her website at http://www.carolegiangrande.com.

Carol Giangrande's profile page

Editorial Reviews

"Here Comes the Dreamer is a moving account of how a tragic accident changes, and haunts, the intertwined lives of a painter, his gifted and troubled daughter, and the young woman who befriends them. It astutely probes the moods and mores of suburban America in the '50s and '60s, and later, of Toronto. Combining rich lyrical language, inspired narration, and sensitive psychological insight, this is fiction of the most darkly illuminating, deeply touching kind."--Allan Briesmaster"Giangrande's writing is warm and intelligent, honest and kind. Here Comes the Dreamer is filled with the richness of character and intersecting lives."--Irene Guilford, author of The Embrace