In 1960s Inverness, Cape Breton, the coal mines have closed and family farms stand abandoned as men and families must find other ways to survive. Curly MacLeod, the last of the old-time horse traders, must cultivate a new clientele to support his wife Annabel and their adopted son Blaise—the back-to-the-landers who are moving to the area. The religious Annabel is less open to change. When hippies Eric and Jenny Petcoff buy the farm next door, she worries about their influence on the now teenage Blaise. And Blaise is influenced—which sets in motion a chain of events that sends tremors of even greater change through his family. Central to the developing history of the MacLeod family is his daughter Lucy, a shy and altruistic girl who grows up in Ontario but spends summers in Cape Breton with her grandparents. Her roots there are strong, but Lucy's life is full of the strange and the wonderful. With her mystic skill, where will her true calling take her?

Filled with engaging characters, with their unique and lively Cape Breton voices, Lucy Cloud follows the fortunes and heartaches of a family with secrets and the intense longing to live fully. Anne Lévesque delivers an authentic tale of a time and a place, where people must be strong and inventive to make a good life.

Anne Lévesque's poetry, short fiction, and creative nonfiction have been published in Canadian and international journals and anthologies. Lucy cloud is her first novel. She lives with her husband near Inverness, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia.

Anne Levesque's profile page