As readers of this blog know, I am very excited about the Scotiabank Giller Prize event.  As part of my preparation for attending the Between the Pages Event  (held in Toronto November 6th), I have been reading through the short-listed books.  I had been privileged to meet Michael Redhill, in September, at the Grimsby Author series (a blog post is pending but I am still a bit behind after taking a blogging break this summer).  At the time, his book had not been announced as part of the short-list and I was trying to curtail my book spending but after hearing Redhill speak, I confess, I walked away with a signed copy!

Redhill described the book as having “one foot in mystery and a couple toes in psychological terror” and his writing keeps readers turning the pages.  The book starts of slow, easing us into confusion and a whole other life that the character is leading, based in Bellevue Square, as Jean Mason searches for her doppelgänger.  The reader’s curiosity is peaked as she searches for this woman who remains elusive to her while others have seen her.  She enlists a motley group of park inhabitants to help her find her doppelgänger as she neglects her family and the bookstore she owns.

This was my first book by Redhill and it has left me a little off-balance, pondering the story, the twists and wondering about the next two instalments in the triptych that he is planning.  After finishing, I did wonder if it would have been helpful to read books by Redhill’s alter-ego, Inger Ash, who was entwined in the story?  It was an enjoyable endeavour into a unique environment and I did enjoy the Toronto references.  The Giller Prize will be announced on Monday and I am excited to hear the winner.

I have now read Outline by Rachel Cusk, Son of a Trickster by Eden Robinson and I am a Truck by Michelle Williams.  I have Minds of Winter sitting beside me but am not certain that I will finish it before the Monday announcement… perhaps this is a sign as Do Not Say We have Nothing by Madeleine Thien was the only book that I did not quite get to last year and it was the big winner!!!