On a summer evening in Stratford, Ontario, the errant thrust of a gardener’s spade slices a telephone cable into instant silence. The resulting disconnection is devastating. With the failure of one call to reach the house, an ambitious young actor becomes the victim of sexual blackmail. The blocking of a second call leads tragically to murder. And when a Bell Canada repairman arrives to mend the broken line, his innocent yet irresistible male beauty has explosive consequences.

In Spadework, Timothy Findley—a master storyteller and playwright, has created an electric word-play of infidelity and morality, set on the stage of Stratford, Ontario—Findley’s home territory. In this insider’s fictional portrait of Canada’s preeminent theater town, intrigue, passion and ambition are always waiting in the wings. He peoples the town with theater makers, artists, writers, and visitors, both welcome and unwelcome— and with lives that are immediately recognizable as “Findleyesque”—the lonely, the dispossessed and the sexually troubled whose foibles confound their families, their friends and even their pets. A story that ripples with ever-widening repercussions, a sensual and completely absorbing read, Spadework is another Timothy Findley winner.

Timothy Findley (1930-2002) was one of Canada's most compelling and best-loved writers. He is the author of The Wars, which won the Governor General's Award and established him as one of Canada's leading writers, as well as Pilgrim and The Piano Man's Daughter, both finalists for The Giller Prize. His other novels, Headhunter, The Telling Of Lies, The Last Of The Crazy People, The Butterfly Plague, Famous Last Words, Not Wanted On The Voyage, and Spadework; his novella, You Went Away; and his short fiction, Dinner Along The Amazon, Stones, and Dust To Dust, have won numerous awards and are well loved both in Canada and internationally.

Elizabeth Rex won the Governor General's Award for Drama and The Stillborn Lover won a Chalmers Award. His works of non-fiction include Inside Memory and From Stone Orchard.

Timothy Findley was made an Officer of the Order of Canada and a Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres.

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