Now that the Christmas celebrations with family are over, the presents are unwrapped and   we can relax, I am finished with my Christmas reading challenge.   I am getting back to reading CanLit and since I have recently met my reading goal of 110 books am resetting my target for 115 books by December 31st.  I needed to finish The Wars.  It was a monthly book read on the CanadianContent Goodreads site but unfortunately I had misplaced the library copy which “magically” appeared on the dining room buffet a few weeks later.

It was certainly a contrast to the fluffy holiday reads with its’ gritty description of the death and despair of trench warfare.  Seventeen year old Robert Ross, a gentle Canadian boy, had enlisted after the death of his beloved sister.  The story includes his journey across the ocean and the extreme loss and terrible conditions of the war.

The Wars, which won the Governor General was published in 1977 and is one of 10 novels (also 3 short story collections, 4 plays and 2 non-fiction books) written by Timothy Findley who died in 2002.  It is part of the 100 Books that Make you Proud to be Canadian.  grew up in Toronto and later lived in Stratford with his partner also spending a lot of time in the South of France.