Alexander MacDonald guides us through his family’s mythic past as he recollects the heroic stories of his people: loggers, miners, drinkers, adventurers; men forever in exile, forever linked to their clan. There is the legendary patriarch who left the Scottish Highlands in 1779 and resettled in “the land of trees,” where his descendents became a separate Nova Scotia clan. There is the team of brothers and cousins, expert miners in demand around the world for their dangerous skills. And there is Alexander and his twin sister, who have left Cape Breton and prospered, yet are haunted by the past. Elegiac, hypnotic, by turns joyful and sad, No Great Mischief is a spellbinding story of family, loyalty, exile, and of the blood ties that bind us, generations later, to the land from which our ancestors came.

Alistair MacLeod was born in Saskatchewan in 1936 and raised in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. He has published two internationally acclaimed collections of short stories: The Lost Salt Gift of Blood (1976) and As Birds Bring Forth the Sun (1986). In 2000, these two books, accompanied by two new stories, were published as Island: The Collected Stories of Alistair MacLeod. In 1999, MacLeod's first novel, No Great Mischief, was published to stellar critical acclaim. The novel won the Dartmouth Book Award, the Thomas Raddall Atlantic Fiction Award, The Trillium Award, the CAA Award, and the Canadian Booksellers Association Libris Awards for Fiction Book of the Year and Author of the Year. In 2001, No Great Mischief was awarded the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award, one of the world's most prestigious literary prizes.

Alistair MacLeod's profile page

• Winner, International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award
• Winner, Canadian Booksellers Association Libris Award - Fiction Book of the Year
• Winner, Canadian Booksellers Association Libris Award - Author of the Year
• Winner, Canadian Booksellers Association Libris Award - Fiction Book of the Year
• Winner, Trillium Book Award

“MacLeod is MacLeod, the greatest living Canadian writer and one of the most distinguished writers in the world. No Great Mischief is the book of the year—and of this decade. It is a once-in-a-lifetime masterpiece.”
—Globe and Mail

“No Great Mischief is one of the best Canadian novels I’ve read in years. It’s a tale of truth about people who care for one another and for the living world around them. A lament and a celebration, it will endure.”
–Farley Mowat

“This is a simply great novel. The simplicity lies in the device of the plot. The greatness lies in its scope, imagination, and execution. . . . His message beguiles, his prose captivates, and his narrative never loosens a deceptively gentle grip.”
–Glasgow Herald

“You will find scenes from this majestic novel burned into your mind forever.”
–Alice Munro

“A triumph of fiction. . . . [MacLeod’s] storytelling is taut and lucid. His characters possess strength and depth. They linger in your mind.”
–The Economist (U.K.)

“[A] mesmerizing, evocative story, infused with grace and wisdom.”
–Jury Citation, Trillium Award

“A powerful, intricate work.”
–Toronto Sun
“MacLeod’s world of Cape Breton . . . has become a permanent part of my own inner library.”
–New York Times Book Review

“No Great Mischief feels like a book that’s gone deep and means to stay.”
–Quill & Quire (starred review)

“A masterpiece of storytelling.”
–Time Out (London)

“This book is a jewel. . . . Destined to become one of the most memorable Canadian novels of the decade.”
–Hamilton Spectator

“A haunting and beautiful book. . . . MacLeod’s descriptions are remarkable.”
–Montreal Gazette

“No Great Mischief is a lesson in the art of storytelling.”
–Times Literary Supplement

“The work speaks of great loves . . . and tragic losses that will move readers in every corner of the world.”
–Publishers Weekly
“A robust novel, celebrating all of the joys and tragedies life has to offer.”
–Edmonton Journal

“MacLeod’s world, hard and real, has also the feel of resonant myth about it, enduring truths couched in pellucid prose.”
–The Scotsman
“A great, hauntingly beautiful and enduring book.”
–Kitchener-Waterloo Record

“Few readers will fail to be moved by No Great Mischief.”
–Toronto Star

“[MacLeod’s] writing is of a quality that most writers can only dream of achieving.”
–National Post

“The book is pervaded by humour and colour, intensely vivid, and very, very moving.”
—The Independent (U.K.)