Mouse’s world is constrained by a number of factors: her mother is dead, her father – the admired country doctor – is emotionally distant, her housekeeper Sal is prejudiced and narrow, and her grandmother and aunt, Big Louie and Little Louie, the only life-affirming presences in her life, live in another city.

 

Enter Gentleman John Pilkie, the former NHL star who’s transferred to the mental hospital in Madoc’s Landing, where he is to serve out his life-sentence for the murder of his wife and daughter. John becomes a point of fascination for young Mary, who looks to him for the attention she does not receive from her father. He, in turn, is kind to her – but the kindness is misunderstood. When Mary figures out that the attention she receives from the Hockey Killer is different in kind and intent from the attention her Aunt Little Louie receives, her world collapses.

 

Set against the beautiful and dramatic shore of Georgian Bay, the climax will have readers turning pages with concern for characters they can’t help but love.

SUSAN SWAN's fiction has been published in twenty countries and received numerous honours. Her first novel, The Biggest Modern Woman of the World (1983), was a finalist for the Governor General’s Award for fiction and the Smith’s Best First Novel Award, and is currently being made into a film. Her other books include the short story collection Stupid Boys are Good to Relax With (1996), the novel Last of the Golden Girls (1989), and The Wives of Bath (1993). The film adaptation of The Wives of Bath, called Lost and Delirious, has been released in 32 countries and was featured as a Premiere Selection at the 2001 Sundance Film Festival. Her most recent novel, What Casanova Told Me (2001), was published to rave reviews. Susan Swan lives in Toronto, Ontario, and is an associate professor of Humanities at York University.

Susan Swan's profile page

• Short-listed, OLA Evergreen Award

“Readers will revel in the familiar details of home coupled with a dramatic plot.”

Chatelaine

“[Swan’s] poetic descriptions of Ontario’s harsh winter weather and adept use of colloquial speech … are particularly vivid, and help bring the world of the novel to vibrant life.”

Quill and Quire

“The timely subject of hockey concussions is absorbing, as is Swan’s consideration of broken minds… At the heart of the novel is a girl’s thoughtful deliberation on the mysteries of good and evil, and how they can be combined in the same person.”

The Globe and Mail

“Swan’s new novel is a tentative, fraught coming-of-age story about the complications of Mary’s desire—for the athletic and charismatic Pilkie on the one hand and her elusive father on the other … Swan’s representations of the two male figures emphasize them as opposing poles in Mary’s desire.”

Canadian Literature

“With its focus on winter in northern towns, pre-medicare medicine, hockey and the very relevant issue of concussions among professional athletes, Swan has added another gem to the Canadian canon.”

Now Magazine

“Swan’s elegant diction and structural flow is seamless. This is a novel for all generations.”

Canadian Literature

“Mouse Bradford is a unique and luminous creation … Gentleman John Pilkie, the hockey killer with a heart of gold, is dressed and ready to become a legend.”

Paul Gross

“Swan, the consummate storyteller, plays her hand shrewdly. There is just as much danger in goodness, she is telling us, as in evil.”

Vancouver Sun

“A gallivanting read bound to become a classic.”

Toronto Star

“Canadian literary icon Susan Swan is back … Once again, Swan expertly takes on what it meant to be a girl in a time when being a girl was no piece of cake.”

Fashion