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When Tim Wakelin, recently a widower, heads north in search of a story about a local healer named Caroline Troyer, he enters a world that is real yet strange. Familiar landmarks disappear and extraordinary events unfold as his life becomes intertwined with hers. Even the landscape itself - the ancient rocks, myriad lakes, and cathedral forests of the Canadian Shield - becomes a source of threat. How can he understand this strange and beautiful woman when he is no longer sure why he has really come or what is happening to him? Until now, Caroline's life has been dominated by her parents: her cunning father, Ross, who has exerted an unspoken power over her since she was a child; and Ardis, her weak yet abusive mother. Aware that her ability to heal is only part of a mysterious process of transformation that she is undergoing, Caroline must break free of the chains of her family. Perhaps Tim can provide the sanctuary she needs, if he has the strength to survive the violent forces unleashed by his arrival. Greg Hollingshead has created a brilliant and arresting story of grief, delusion, and family betrayal, but also of transcendent love and deep personal loyalty, in a novel that explores the fine line between madness and sanity, and between physical and spiritual reality.
A grieving widower travels to the Canadian wilderness to document a local healer, only to find himself ensnared in a reality where the boundaries between the physical world and the supernatural begin to dissolve. Tim Wakelin seeks to understand the enigmatic Caroline Troyer, but his investigation is complicated by his own internal instability and the oppressive, potentially malevolent influence of Caroline's parents. As the Canadian Shield landscape shifts from a backdrop to an active, threatening participant, Tim must navigate a narrative that blurs the lines between his objective search for a story and his subjective descent into a transformative, high-stakes entanglement. The novel utilizes a shifting perspective to examine the psychological toll of grief and the volatile nature of human connection.
This work is characterized by its deliberate pacing and its focus on the psychological interiority of its protagonists. The narrative structure suggests a preoccupation with the fragility of perception, particularly when confronted with the unknown or the uncanny. Readers are likely to find the interplay between the harsh, unforgiving environment of the Canadian Shield and the internal emotional landscapes of the characters to be the primary driver of the story's tension. The prose leans into the ambiguity of its central mystery, favoring thematic depth over conventional plot resolution, which invites a contemplative reading experience.
Page Count:
272
Publication Date:
1999-02-01
Publisher:
Flamingo
ISBN-10:
0002257971
ISBN-13:
9780002257978
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