news | Wednesday December 14, 2022

Holiday Titles

The year is winding down and the tippy-tapping of holiday preparation can be heard on rooftops everywhere. Why not take a break with a couple of seasonally-thematic titles?

1. I Saw Three Ships by Bill Richardson


Eight linked stories, all set around Christmastime in Vancouver’s West End neighbourhood, explore the seasonal tug-of-war between expectation and disappointment. These tales give shelter to characters from various walks of life whose experience of transcendence leaves them more alienated than consoled.

I Saw Three Ships captures a West End community vanishing under pressure from development and skyrocketing real-estate prices. As arch as they are elegiac, as funny as they are melancholy, these stories honour a cherished period in the history of the West End. Sometimes twisted, sometimes tender, I Saw Three Ships will speak to all who have ever been stuck spinning their wheels at the corner of Heathen and Holy.

2. Twists of Fate by Michel Tremblay and translated by Linda Gaboriau


Containing volumes six and seven of Michel Tremblay’s exceptional Desrosiers Diaspora series, Twists of Fate brings us back to the lovable Desrosiers family in the late1920s and early 1930s. Volume seven, Destination Paradise, is set against the backdrop of Christmastime and follows the lovable Édouard’s rite of passage into adulthood and his journey to becoming La Duchesse de Langeais, queen of the Montréal drag scene.

We hope your holidays are cozy, warm, and bright!