Beverley Slopen 2019 Literary Agency spine 24mm Unconfirmed
When a man is found stabbed and floating beneath the cliffs of the Newfoundland coast, the small outpost of Hampden is swept up in a storm of suspicion and paranoia. Grief-stricken and still struggling to cope with the death of one of their own a year earlier, the troubled Now family are among the first to be suspected of the killing. As the mystery around the murdered man unfolds, the lies spiral, the stakes rise and the once close-knit town becomes a prison that no one can escape. ‘One of the very best literary novels I have read in years’ RON RASH, AUTHOR OF SERENA
JOSEPH BOYDEN, AUTHOR OF THREE DAY ROAD
ISBN 978-1-78689-060-3
CATHERINE CHANTER
‘One of Canada’s finest writers . . . I can’t recommend this book highly enough’
9 781786 890603 £8.99 Cover design by Anna Morrison Cover photo © Getty/Shutterstock
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10/04/2017 12:39
Non-Fiction
Joe Berridge Perfect City
An Urban Fixer’s Global Search for Magic in the Modern Metropolis
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“Based on decades of experience and hands-on work in cities across the world, his book is the playbook for building great cities. Read it if you want to help build a great city or just live in one that is more perfect for you.”
Richard Florida, University of Toronto, Author Rise of the Creative Class
“Joe tells a very personal and beautifully written story direct from the front line. An absolute must read for everyone who cares about, and wants to understand, what makes cities tick” Dame Alison Nimmo
“Joe Berridge is one of the few people I have worked with who understands place – what makes a place work and what makes it successful and, crucially, how the people who live and work in it can make it prosper.” Sir Howard Bernstein, former Chief Executive, Manchester City Council
“Joe Berridge expertly demonstrates how cities can capitalize on their unique strengths and plan around their weaknesses to be the best they can possibly be.” Dan Doctoroff, Sidewalk Labs
oe Berridge travels the world on an audacious quest for the perfect city. He takes us with him on an exhilarating tour, offering an experienced eye, insider knowledge, and an understanding of historical and social context. Yet his gaze is fixed firmly on the future as we meet the city and the people who make it work. The complexity of city making lacks a precise formula. Whom should we follow: the city-bosses exemplified by Robert Moses, or activist Jane Jacobs, who stood in front of bulldozers in New York and brought his expressway construction to a halt? Berridge explores the urban landscape with insight and relish. We revel in the irrepressible energy of New York. We watch the explosive rise of Shanghai with amazement, and intensely cerebral Singapore charting its unique path. We witness the near death of Manchester and Belfast, and meet the extraordinary people who changed those cities’ fate. Berridge is intrigued by London’s continuing success, but worries it may have received a fatal blow from Brexit. And then there is Toronto, rising seemingly by accident to the top rank of world cities, whose key to success may be its remarkable welcome to newcomers, the critical ingredient for any dynamic city. Berridge knows these cities from the inside. Through him, we meet inspiring city mayors and managers, and energetic entrepreneurs and activists. These are the people – the politicians and artists, the citizens and businessmen – who have to work together to make the perfect city. How do you best do that, and what do you do when they have been killing each other? Indeed, what is the chemistry of the perfect city? Joe Berridge is one of the world’s most experienced planners. He grew up in a small country town in England.
Sutherland House N.Am 2019
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Beverley Slopen Literary Agency
Non-Fiction
Hugh Brewster Gilded Lives, Fatal Voyage
The Titanic’s First Class Passengers and Their World
T Praise for Gilded Lives, Fatal Voyage: “This is one of those rare books on the subject that provides information both new and relevant, in a scholarly readable way. Highly recommended to anyone interested in the social history of the early 20th century.” Library Journal “Walter Lord’s A Night to Remember and James Cameron’s awardwinning movie set the Titanic bar high. In Gilded Lives, Fatal Voyage, Hugh Brewster clears that bar with ease and shows again why the story never gets old.” Newark Star Journal “Hugh Brewster’s colourful anecdotes and telling details show how 1912 - with its love-hate affair with celebrity, its romance with technology and contempt for the power of nature - sounds eerily familiar a century later.” Globe and Mail
he wealthy and glamorous passengers who boarded the Titanic, history’s most famous ship, provide “an exquisite microcosm of the Edwardian era.” But in most books about the doomed voyage, their stories are incidental to the ship’s collision with an iceberg on April 14, 1912. The cast includes artist and writer Frank Millet, the Director of Decorations for the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair; White House aide Archie Butt; John Jacob Astor and Benjamin Guggenheim; and Lady Lucile Duff-Gordon, a leading couturiere, among others. Through these vivid characters, we gain insight into the arts, politics, culture, and sexual mores of a world both distant and near to our own. All converge on the boat deck of the Titanic during the ship’s final hours and we become witnesses to a heartbreakingly poignant scene where some survive and some do not. The final chapters recount the rescue of the passengers in lifeboats by the Carpathia and the trip back to New York with only 705 of the more than 2,200 on board. Some men who survived lived under a cloud of cowardice. Others left a remarkable legacy. Hugh Brewster is a former publisher, who has written and produced award-winning books of fiction and non-fiction for children. This is the book about the Titanic tragedy that he wanted to read.
HarperCollins Canada 2012 Crown/Random House US 2012 Gawsewitch France 2012 Piemme Italy 2012 Mondadori/Random House Spain 2012 Robson Press UK 2012 Wydawnictwo Literackie Poland 2013
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History
Tim Brook Vermeer’s Hat
The 17th Century and the Dawn of the Global World
“Vermeer’s Hat ... provides not only valuable historical insight but also enthralling intellectual entertainment.” “a spellbinding book…mind-expanding.”
The Times, UK
“Brook is a wonderful storyteller... I doubt I will read a better book this year.” The Telegraph, UK
“Timothy Brook is one of those historians who can tell world history like an adventure novel and economic history like a crime novel...After reading [this] one sees Vermeer’s world differently. And one’s own too.” Spiegel, Germany
“..provides…not only valuable historical insight but also enthralling intellectual entertainment.” The Washington Post, US Winner: Lynton Prize in History
Bloomsbury US 2008 Chungrim Korea 2008 Edition Tiamat Germany 2009 Europa Konyvkiado Hungary 2009 Gradiva Portugal 2011 Iwanami Japan 2010 Kalima Arabic 2010 Payot & Rivages France 2009 Penguin Canada 2008 Profile UK 2008 Record Brazil 2009 Yuan-Liou Taiwan 2009 Wenhui Press China 2009 Wereldbibliotheek Netherlands 2010 Einaudi Italy 2015 Tusquets Spain 2019
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Michael Dirda, Washington Post
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he story opens in Vermeer’s studio in Delft with his stunning portrait, Officer and Laughing Girl. This intimate tableau, in which the officer wears an extravagant hat of beaver felt, subtly captures the widening world. Beaver fur from northern Canada financed voyages of the explorers looking for a route to the riches of China. Lust for luxury goods drove expansion. Pursuing beaver pelts, Champlain introduced his gun, the arquebus in 1609, and it had a profound and bloody impact on North America’s indigenous peoples. The silken wrap of Paolo’s robe, and Wen’s silver vase reveal much about east-west commerce at the time. The craving for porcelain spawned as much bloodshed as beauty. Astoundingly, tobacco and the spread of smoking is the great unintended consequence of North American discovery. It spread to Asia within decades of North American discovery, thanks to the seeds carried by the sailors. Here also are tales foreshadowing religious conflict. Globalization in cultural, legal, political, and moral spheres is very much with us, but these trail the economic web which began in the 17th Century. Timothy Brook is the author or editor of more than 12 books on China, including Mr. Selden’s Map of China. His forthcoming book, The Great State, a history of China’s first 1000 years, will be published Fall 2019. He is Professor of History at University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada.
Beverley Slopen Literary Agency
Non-Fiction first organ to falter when research and translating
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Aileen Burford-Mason, author of the acclaimed bestseller, Eat Well Age Better, (Dundurn Press, Canada) is an immunologist, cell biologist and an orthomolecular nutritionist – a specialized field of nutrition that uses diet and vitamins, minerals and amino acids and other substances naturally present in the body to treat and prevent disease. She graduated from University College, Dublin and received a Ph.D. in immunology in the UK. She is former director of a cancer research laboratory at Toronto General Hospital, and Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto. Currently she teaches a continuing medical education course on the use of diet and nutritional supplements in clinical practice across Canada. 6/27/17 11:16 AM
Learn more at: www.aileenburfordmason.ca
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his book will change the way you think about food, nutrition, and how to feed the brain for optimum efficiency. In short, it will change your life. Aileen Burford-Mason, who earned a Ph.D. in immunology, writes with exquisite clarity about advances in the science of the brain and its nutritional needs. “The brain,” she says, “is a complex, hard-working organ and it needs ten times the nutrition of any other organ. Most people are under-performing because their brains are under-nourished.” The brain issues she discusses include ADD, depression, brain trauma, concussion and of course, the big one--dementia. “Worldwide, dementia now affects 36 million people and these numbers will skyrocket as populations age. However, scientists now admit that dementia is not an inevitable part of the aging process. It’s a lifestyle disease, and poor nutrition and lack of exercise are the major risk factors.” The Healthy Brain outlines a life-long program that begins with pregnancy, childhood and adolescence, and moves through our working years and old age. In The Healthy Brain, she suggests dietary changes and appropriate supplements for optimal brainpower at any age. Smart, informative, reassuring and clear, you will want to keep this book close and discuss its suggestions for diet, exercise and supplements with your doctor.
Patrick Crean Editions HarperCollins Canada 2018 Klett-Cotta Germany 2018 Yuan Liou Taiwan 2019 Fingerpint Indian Subcontinent 2019
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Beverley Slopen Literary Agency
Fiction
Martyn Burke Boléro: The Book
T Martyn Burke is an award-winning film maker and writer. In 2012, his documentary Under Fire: Journalists in Combat won a Peabody and was short-listed for an Academy Award. In 2015, he received the Auteur Award from the International Press Academy. Previous recipients include Guillermo del Toro, Baz Luhrmann and George Clooney.
Praise for Music For Love or War: “Music for Love or War is slashand-burn funny, but also unexpectedly touching and wise. Few writers can take you in one breath from the hills of Afghanistan to the gates of the Playboy mansion, and make you believe every crazy word.” Carl Hiaasen
“A whirlwind story, equally hilarious and heartbreaking, about the various kinds of love and war -and quite unlike any novel you’re likely to read.”
he once-famous, now scandal-ravaged orchestra conductor Arturo Romero (Romeo, to the New York tabloids) is reduced to conducting a makeshift collection of musicians meant to bring the gloss of culture to an Indian gambling casino. The casino was created by “former white guys” who are members of the mythical “once-mighty Onanduga nation” as a way to get in on the fortunes of the Indian gambling business. Romero’s story is told through the eyes of Jesse, the glorified baby-sitter of the wildly tormented conductor. But Romero has another, hidden reason drawing him to the Falls. With the help of his caustic parrot Banshee, Romero has come to win back his ex-lover Sophia. Sophia’s erotic demands and wild love making to the pulsating rhythms of Ravel’s Boléro still careen through Romero’s dreams. A decade after their scandalous affair, Sophia is a judge in Niagara Falls and she is on the verge of jailing Romero for his antics. Behind Romero’s romantic quest looms the awesome power of the casino’s mysterious Wall Street investors, who are using the casino’s losses as a test market for ruinous financial instruments. But as the financial edifice falters, and the music and love affairs swirl, the spectre of vast money shudders like an avalanche. What undoes it all is the parrot Banshee, whose coded knowledge holds the secret to what each of the characters has been seeking. And Jessie is witness to it all, stealing our hearts with his grace, compassion and insight. In this layered novel, with its sly allusions and soaring rhythms, Martyn Burke captures the ruptures in society and the turmoil in America.
Bookgasm Blog
Manuscript Available
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Beverley Slopen Literary Agency
Non-fiction
Ryan Church Start Up (Working Title)
T Ryan Church is an entrepreneur, designer, biologist and inventor with numerous patents and patents pending to his name. He studied art history and medical science at the University of Victoria, before expanding into business and design at the Ontario College of Art and Design. He founded Biome Renewables to commercialize biomimetic energy research and technology and develop novel solutions to today’s renewable energy shortfalls. Recently, Ryan was nominated as a Forbes 30 under 30 in Energy.
he dream of creating a successful high tech start-up is the 21st Century version of the 19th C gold rush, but a lot more challenging. Ryan Church, who entered the fray six years ago at 24, offers a thrilling insider’s account of a start-up from conception to scientific testing that will determine if his idea is viable, marketable and scalable. Ryan’s innate curiosity about the natural world and the problem of harnessing wind to produce energy led to his invention of the PowerCone, a retrofit for existing wind turbines. By adapting what he knows about flow, turbulence and the aerodynamic problem of root leakage, his PowerCone unlocks substantially more power and dampens noise. It makes modern wind turbines, with their graceful rotating blades dotting farmer’s fields 10-13% more efficient. His device could be the start of a multi-billion enterprise. This is an engaging memoir by an exceptional young man -- an innocent in the playground of the ruthless. His tale combines the suspense of testing prototypes ranging from jury-rigged homemade models measuring 20 cm across to planning a test in the field with a full-scale model 20 metres across. Ryan, raised by single mother of modest means, attracted professors, engineers, lawyers, and financiers to his enterprise. They raised more than $3million with another $1 million pledged. They agreed to lineup with him as CEO of the company he founded, BiomeRenewables. Equally impressive is his writing. This book will be a classic for the start up generation. Talent, curiosity and confidence are potent fuel.
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Beverley Slopen Literary Agency
Memoir
Janet Culliton No Less Than the Trees and Stars
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Janet Culliton is an autism advocate, and Honours graduate of University of Toronto’s Creative Writing School.
anet, a career-minded manager, five months pregnant, finds her world turned upside down when her husband Gerry unexpectedly accepts a job in his hometown of Stratford, Ontario. When their daughter Grace is seven months old, Janet reluctantly follows him, suddenly bereft of her independence and support system. It is a challenging time for the young family — there are financial struggles exacerbated by concerns about Grace’s development and alarming behaviours. Their second daughter Ruth-Anne is born, then Janet is diagnosed with cancer and Grace with autism. Her autism is characterized by bolting, extreme violence and sleeplessness. Doggedly pursuing ways to aid Grace, the family learns that her type of autism is characterized by anxieties so extreme that even her resting state is one of acute distress. And yet, there are small victories along their journey. Their inherently sweet and intelligent Grace goes on to win awards and recognition as an artist, even as her difficulties continue to deny the family the normalcy they seek. Told with humility, unflinching honesty, raw emotion and sparks of humour, No Less than the Trees and Stars brings the reader inside the less-talked-about world of those whose autism is the most problematic. It reveals the toll it takes on a mother, a marriage, a sibling, and Grace herself. Today, when 1 in 66 children are diagnosed with autism, and interest in this perplexing condition has never been greater. No Less Than the Trees and Stars shines a spotlight on the part of the autism spectrum that is the most misunderstood, the most stigmatized, the most vulnerable, and the least helped.
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Ultimately, this is a story of kindness, sensitivity, and a family’s resilience as they come to terms with their lives veering off course. It is also a tribute to Grace as she becomes the catalyst for her family to grow more loving, respectful and forgiving. Beverley Slopen Literary Agency
Historical Fiction
Jill Downie The Fashion Artist
N Jill Downie is the author of nine novels and two biographies that have been widely published and translated. The Raven and the Glass, Turn of the Century, Angel in Babylon and Dark Liaisons are historical fiction. Her mysteries include Daggers and Men’s Smiles and Blood Will Out. Praise for her previous books: “Downie’s experience with historical novels…and her theatre skills stand her in good stead.” The Globe and Mail
“Fascinating depths to both the novel and the mystery that has been written about it.” The Star Phoenix
“In the styling of such greats as Agatha Christie and Dorothy Sayers…a captivating read.”
Cozy Mystery Book Reviews
ew York, 1904: Ariella Aleksandrov is a young seamstress from the tenement district when her talent for drawing catches the eye of John Cornish at Pinkerton Detective Agency. He has just the job for her: infiltrate the high-fashion world of the beautiful Marquise Harriet de Brisson and collect incriminating evidence against her for an unnamed adversary. Harriet has returned to New York after her aristocratic husband eroded her inheritance and deprived her of her little son. To replenish her coffers and gain custody of her child, she has launched Marquise Designs, a couture fashion house for glittering socialites. Ariella impresses the Marquise with her quick mind and skill as a fashion artist. She becomes Harriet’s trusted personal assistant and must navigate the rarefied world of luxury and larceny. As her affection for the Marquise blooms, Ariella reveals all to her employer. But Ariella must maintain her link with Pinkerton if she is to help Harriet determine who in her circle is working against her. It is a high stakes gambit for a Jewish girl in a cutthroat world of greed and ambition involving bankers, financiers, gamblers, servants, and denizens of New York’s demi-monde. Ariella and Harriet are confronted with murder, blackmail, and a mud bed of shifting loyalties. Jill Downie creates a seductive portrait of New York at the turn of the 20th Century infused with the spirit of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn and Edith Wharton’s Age of Innocence.
“A masterpiece of restoration to delight and inspire.”
June Callwood
“Jill Downie...brings a remarkable woman and her era to full life and colour.” Marian Fowler
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History
“Eksteins is as gifted a stylist as he is a scholar. One reads it with fascination and intellectual gratitude.” Alfred Kazin
Modris Eksteins
Modris Eksteins
Rites of Spring
Walking Since Daybreak
The Great War and the Birth of the Modern Age
I
T
his classic, award-winning book, in print “…a witty and enterpris- since 1989, is celebrated by ing scholar” scholars and readers alike. It Kurt Vonnegut even inspired a Hollywood “...nothing less than a film, Max, starring John retrospective of our en- Cusack. tire century. Art and politics, dance and war, have never been the same. ...It is the start of a new history.”
“The Great War was the psychological turning point for modernism,” argues Eksteins. “The urge to creJames Carroll ate and the urge to destroy “This provocative and had changed places.” disturbing reappraisal of modernism rings with authority.” Publishers Weekly
Macmillan UK 2000 OP Houghton Mifflin USA 1989 Knopf /Can 2012 Dogan Turkey 2014 Rowohlt Ger 1990/OP Plon France 1990 OP TBS Britannica Japan Editora Rocco Brazil Standard Uitgeverij Holland PIW Poland Geulhangari Korea Editorial Pre-Textos Spain Social Sciences Academic Press China 2019 Argo Czech 2019
With originality and discerning historical analysis, he describes the origins, impact, and aftermath of WWI from the premiere of Stravinsky’s ballet The Rite of Spring in 1913, to the final dance by the denizens of Hitler’s bunker in 1945. This is a remarkable cultural history that redefines the way we look at our past and think about the future.
“A deeply moving and intellectually challenging view of modern history.”
Los Angeles Times
“...a beautiful meditation, written with both intellectual and moral urgency.”
n his journey to 1945 and the firestorm in Berlin, Eksteins weaves the story of his family in Latvia into the major events of the era, merging the subjectivity of the modern style with the objectivity of the scholar.
Empire, war, communism, fascism, the Holocaust, Publishers Weekly genocide, the huge tide of European refuges, New “...an important reas- World immigration, freesessment of WWII and dom...These are the markers its outcome...provaca- of our turbulent age. tive and ambitious.”
Kirkus Reviews
Awards Winner Pearson Literary Prize
Standaart Nthlds 2007 Houghton Mifflin US1999 Macmillan UK 2000 OP Key Porter Canada 1999 Atena Latvia 2002
Born in Latvia, Eksteins arrived as a child in 1950 among the displaced in Canada. He surveys the wreckage from two angles: by looking back from 1989 and the collapse of the Berlin Wall and, at the same time, moving forward from the perspective of the 19th century borderlands between Russia and Germany. It is an astute and thrilling panorama from the imperial age of coherence to our current confusions and fragmented logic.
Beverley Slopen Literary Agency
History
Modris Eksteins Solar Dance
Van Gogh, Forgery, and the Eclipse of Certainty
T Winner, $40,000 B.C Award for NonFiction 2013 Finalist, Hilary Weston Prize for NonFiction 2012
“Mr. Eksteins has a knack for pinpointing moments in the rise of Modernism that expose the deep social forces that have shaped our world... Solar Dance conveys the heady atmosphere that made Berlin the first European capital to embrace the transforming potential of art in a secular age.” Wall Street Journal
“Subtle and engaging…Eksteins tells his story in a suitably looping and layered manner, with many darts and artful reverses, suing a range of knowledge and allusion reminiscent of his 1989 masterpiece, Rites of Spring.” Globe and Mail
“Eksteins is a major historian and Solar Dance, like everything he writes, deserves a wide and attentive readership.” National Post “A marvellous, brilliant book, one that gives a clearer undersatnding of our cultural moment than just about anything published in ages.” Literary Review of Canada Harvard UP April 2012 Knopf Canada Feb 2012 Zysk Poland 2013
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he 19th century was the century of certainty – of Marx, Darwin, Wagner; it was the century of expansion and empire. It believed that there was a line to be drawn between the subject and the object. It believed in category. The 20th Century was the century of doubt – of Marcel Duchamp, Werner Heisenberg, and Monty Python; it was the century of contraction and decolonization. It disrupted all category. A man whose spirit straddled the two ages was Vincent van Gogh. Repudiated in his own time, he became the most loved and expensive artist of the 20th Century. He was the great synthesizer who captured in his art the exhilaration of life but also its fragility and tragedy. Modris Eksteins, whose subject is the 20th century, approaches the era through the lens of the sensational trial of a Berlin art dealer Otto Wacker and his role in the forgery of 33 Van Gogh paintings. In 1925, Wacker began releasing these hitherto unknown works which he cleverly had authenticated by experts. Through the progress of this drama Van Gogh’s commercial value rocketed skyward. Doubt and disaster also were crucial to Van Gogh’s posthumous success-- his own madness and suicidal end, and the subsequent near-destruction of European civilization in fratricidal war. In the Wacker-Van Gogh story, with its cast of characters who both delight and frighten us, is the story of Weimar Germany, the rise of Hitler and the fall of the Berlin Wall. In this thrilling book, Modris Eksteins illuminates the major themes of the modern world where a culture of vitality, life, and art has overwhelmed one of authority, form, and law. Modris Eksteins is the author of acclaimed books on modernism, Rites of Spring: The Great War and the Birth of the Modern Age and Walking Since Daybreak: A story of Eastern Europe, World War II, and the Heart of Our Century. Beverley Slopen Literary Agency
Mystery Series
Howard Engel Grand Master of Mystery
Captivating insights, beautiful phrases, lovable characters and grisly crimes spill effortlessly from Howard Engel’s sleeve. His classic series of Benny Cooperman mysteries and two historical crime novels have won prizes and are widely translated. In 2014 he was named the Grand Master of Canadian mystery writers. Best of all, there is a new Engel novel, City of Fallen Angels, set in 1940’s Hollywood. The rabbi and the president of Grantham’s synagogue hire Benny when a lawyer absconds with the life savings of the congregation.
The local crime boss wants Benny to find out who is trying to kill him, and Benny can’t refuse.
Did heiress Gloria Warren collude in her own kidnapping? Where is the money? Benny, the Mob, the cops and Gloria want to know.
Benny mixes with Grantham’s elite who buy, trade and steal paintings -and also murder.
Vanessa Moss, the sexy siren in the executive suite, hires Benny to protect her. He gets more trouble than he expected.
A Hollywood movie crew is shooting more than film at Niagara Falls.
Benny’s environmental anxieties fester when a trucker with hazardous cargo is murdered.
Benny suffers a vicious blow to the head and is diagnosed with a rare condition, alexia sine agraphia. No longer having the ability to read, Benny must unmask his assailant.
Benny is awash in black-flies, cults, and murder in the Canadian wilderness, while tracking a celebrity evangelist.
An old woman whose estate is plundered leads Benny to corrupt lawyers and intrigue at a TV news station.
An old friend pleads for Benny’s help just as he’s on the verge of retirement. Her husband Jake went missing along with their life savings.
Dr. Zeckerman, Grantham’s wealthy psychiatrist, loses a patient to suicide. Benny suspects homicide.
CBC TV Film
CBC TV Film
Beverley Slopen Literary Agency
Fiction
Terry Fallis Albatross
A
dam Coryell is 17 when he learns he has a rare gift and an abiding passion. Unfortunately, his gift is not his passion.
Terry Fallis is the author of six previous, bestselling, hilarious novels that have won distinguished literary awards and been adapted for a TV mini-series and a stage musical.
Thanks to his rare physique, as charted by a Swedish professor in The Scandinavian Journal of Kinesiology and Sports Medicine, Adam’s body type is ideally suited to golf, a sport that he has never played. His passion, however, is writing.
Praise for Albatross:
Adam is magic on the golf course. With scant practice, his natural talent earns him a scholarship to Stanford University, followed by a career on the pro golf tour that pours riches into his bank account.
“Fallis writes from another time, when Wodehouse and Leacock and Twain roamed the earth. May he never become extinct.”
Adam is a charming, unassuming young man who cleverly retained his former high school teacher, the fifty-something Ms Bobbie Davenport, as his caddie. She keeps him calm on the golf course with discussions about literature.
Praise for One Brother Shy:
But his growing celebrity starts to chafe. He is bored, he lost his high school sweetheart, and his struggling competitors are hostile. Adam can deliver an “albatross,” which is a hole in two strokes below par, but he can’t shake the albatross golf has become around his neck.
Linwood Barclay Bestselling Thriller Author
“Mark Twain once observed that the “secret source of humor is not joy but sorrow.” In One Brother Shy, Terry Fallis locates this secret source in a very moving yet often funny story...In so doing, the author marries joy with sorrow. The result is a wonderful, powerful tale of pain and redemption.” Joseph Kertes, Author, The Afterlife of Stars
Penguin Random House Canada 2019
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When a brutal gang tries to kidnap him from the roof of the Burj Al Arab in Dubai, a tragedy leaves Adam lost and distraught. He needs a time-out and a new direction. He needs to follow his passion to give life meaning. Terry Fallis imbues this tale with wit, humor and wisdom. His portrayal of the friendship between Adam and Bobbie is a triumph. The fixation of some characters on the pleasures of rare fountain pens, ink, and paper becomes hilarious. Scenes with the Swedish professor Gunnarsson are inspired. Golfers will be entranced. And readers will exult that Adam can vanquish the curse of the hovering Albatross.
Beverley Slopen Literary Agency
Fiction
Terry Fallis One Brother Shy
O “One Brother Shy is a two-for-one flight of invention, full of hilarious one-liners. A compelling and surprising tale about the importance and inspiration of family is twinned with a rich portrait of characters in keenly observed social contexts...Terry Fallis has written another fast-paced, incisive, and wry novel.”
Gary Barwin, Author, Yiddish for Pirates
“Mark Twain once observed that the “secret source of humor is not joy but sorrow.” In One Brother Shy, Terry Fallis locates this secret source in a very moving yet often funny story...In so doing, the author marries joy with sorrow. The result is a wonderful, powerful tale of pain and redemption.” Joseph Kertes, Author, The Afterlife of Stars
“For anyone interested in searching for family and healing from traumatic events, Fallis mines a wealth of touching and hilarious treasures, in his giggle-worthy way.” Winnipeg Free Press
PenguinRandomHouse Canada Summer 2017
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ttawa software engineer, Alex MacAskill, 25, is a painfully and chronically shy man whose once bright future was seriously dimmed by an incident in high school. It was not talked about, and it is known only by the family code name “Gabriel.” Outwardly reticent, and desperate to escape notice, Alex sustains a rich, thoughtful and witty inner dialogue that helps him cope. He never knew his father, not even his name. He was raised by a single mother, Lee MacAskill, whose battle with Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis is nearing its end as the novel opens. When she dies, an envelope left for Alex reveals a secret that instantly changes his life and sets him on a search for the identical twin brother he never knew he had. Eventually reunited with his twin, Matthew Paterson, a high-flying, charismatic entrepreneur living in London, England, they piece together shreds of evidence, including an obscure tattoo linked to the 1972 Canada-Russia hockey series, to try to find the father neither of them knew. Their travels take them to Moscow only to discover their father was hiding in plain sight back in London, where he secretly kept tabs on the twin sons. The nature of his work which prevented him from becoming involved in their lives is an important feature of the plot. An initially rocky but ultimately happy reunion of father and sons leaves Alex with one final task. He tells Matthew about “Gabriel.” Matthew insists they both fly back to Ottawa to confront “Gabriel” and set Alex on the path to the person he should have become—as dictated by his genetic code. It is time to bring Alex’s vital and vibrant inner voice out into the open. It is also time for him to pursue a budding romance with a fiery work colleague that weaves its way through Alex’s narrative. One Brother Shy is a funny, poignant story of identical twins separated at birth, Cold War echoes, the strength of family ties, and the healing power of humour. Terry Fallis is a best selling author who has an identical twin brother, Tim Fallis. Beverley Slopen Literary Agency
Fiction
Terry Fallis Poles Apart
H
ail, Gender Warriors! Be prepared to submit to the beguiling spell of Poles Apart. Humor is the best option for the serious topics of feminist aspirations and male confusion and rage.
“Quite possibly the most fun you can ever have while reading about the struggle for equality. Light-hearted, wickedly funny and surprisingly touching, this novel lights up the lovability of feminism and its defenders.”
Michele Landberg
“Fallis employs an easygoing yet compelling writing style ... So what’s in a name? When it’s Terry Fallis, you know it means a good book.”
National Post
“Terry Fallis writes with a light touch and fine sense of the inherent humanity of humour, while still addressing one of the biggest questions we all have to face: Who are you? Who are you really?”
Will Ferguson , author of 419, winner of the Scotiabank Giller Prize
“Gently satirical and intelligently frothy, Up and Down achieves a delightful weightlessness as transporting as the space voyage it deals with.” Andrew Pyper, bestselling author of The Demonologist
McClelland/Random House CAN 2015
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Everett Kane is a darling – a man who is a committed feminist. His strong mother, CEO of a Fortune 500 company, begs Ev not to tell his girlfriends. It is the reason, she says, that Ev is still single at 37. (What? Are male feminists not sexy?) Ev’s father, Billy Kane, a former autoworker on the line at Ford, is a stubborn throwback about a women’s place –i.e. firmly in the home. His attitude drove Ev’s mother to depart. Ev has suffered male guilt ever since. The Kane family comes together when Billy, now retired to Florida, is debilitated by a stroke. Ev, a free-lance writer, moves south (with his mother’s financial support) to help his father through rehab. In the same hospital, Ev meets his idol from his days as a student activist for women’s rights, the formidable feminist leader, Beverley Tanner. Warm, funny, and brilliant, Bev and Ev develop a special bond. Meanwhile, below Ev’s rental apartment, an “upscale” strip joint moves in. Longing to rekindle the idealism of his youth, Ev secretly starts a feminist blog, Eve of Equality, which rallies feminists, and has the misfortune to go viral. Ev’s cloaked attacks on the strip club anger the dancers, his mother who had a real estate deal with the owner, and the club’s owner, who brings dangerous, mob-style “heat” to the battle. Ev’s male identity is about to be revealed, potentially unleashing the fury of his feminist fans. Worse, his secret life as a feminist blogger thwarts his blossoming romantic passion for the young woman lawyer representing the strip mogul. Terry Fallis is the author of four previous, bestselling, hilarious novels that have won distinguished literary awards and been adapted for a TV mini-series and a stage musical. Beverley Slopen Literary Agency
Fiction
Terry Fallis No Relation Winner of the Leacock Medal for Humor
N Praise for No Relation: “Terry Fallis writes with a light touch and fine sense of the inherent humanity of humour, while still addressing one of the biggest questions we all have to face: Who are you? Who are you really?”
Will Ferguson , author of 419, winner of the Scotiabank Giller Prize
“Born of a cheerful mood and a clever mind, Terry Fallis’s No Relation is an endearing book with a big heart.”
Trevor Cole, author of Practical Jean, winner of the Stephen Leacock Medal for Humour
“Fallis employs an easygoing yet compelling writing style ... So what’s in a name? When it’s Terry Fallis, you know it means a good book.”
National Post
o Relation by Terry Fallis is the story of a man who believes his name has blighted his life and thwarted his ambitions. His name? Earnest Hemmingway—spelled differently from that the iconic Ernest Hemingway, but laughable all the same. Life has been good for Hem, a middle-aged copywriter at a New York ad agency. He has had the same job for 20 years, a live-in girlfriend, and a great apartment. But as a writer, Hem believes his family name, bestowed on four generations of Earnest Hemmingways, has blocked him from his destiny as a great novelist. Hem’s cozy world shatters on a single day when he loses his wallet, his girlfriend and his job. His humiliating melt down while he tries to renew his driver’s license, which goes viral on YouTube, is the final blow. Hem’s father, however, sees it as a perfect time for his son to return to Chicago and take the helm of Hemmingwear, the storied underwear manufacturer led by three previous generations of “Earnests.” Hem has other plans. Besides, his younger sister is eager to take the job—if she can convince their misogynist father. Hem and his sister team up to expose traitors and foil a hostile takeover. Hem, meanwhile, assembles the sweetest support group this side of Freud--composed of people burdened with famous names. It allows Fallis to flirt with looping comic scenes while addressing serious issues of identity and the weight of expectations. It is a funny, endearing novel crafted by a master.
McClelland/Random House CAN 2014 Shui- Ling Taiwan 2015
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Terry Fallis lives in Toronto where he works for a communications company. His four novels, The Best Laid Plans, The High Road, Up and Down and No Relation are each major bestsellers in Canada and are attracting a growing number of readers abroad. One secret of his success—free podcasts of the novels, chapter by chapter, available on iTunes. To see the book trailer, click here. Beverley Slopen Literary Agency
Praise for Terry Fallis
“Mark Twain once observed that the “secret source of humor is not joy but sorrow.” In One Brother Shy, Terry Fallis locates this secret source in a very moving yet often funny story about a young man’s search for lost family, lost identity, lost confidence and lost time. The result is a wonderful, powerful tale of pain and redemption.”
Joseph Kertes, author of The Afterlife of Stars
“One Brother Shy is life-affirming and an absolute joy to read.”
Susan Juby,
“One Brother Shy is a two-for-one flight of invention, full of hilarious one-liners. Terry Fallis has written another fastpaced, incisive, and wry novel that doesn’t shy away from the enjoyably genuine and the genuinely human.”
Gary Barwin, author of Yiddish for Pirates
“One Brother Shy is another wonderful example of the great gift of Terry Fallis: To make us laugh just enough we don’t realize we’re also learning. My only complaint with his novels is that he can’t write them as quickly as I can devour them.”
Steve Patterson, CBC Radio
“Light-hearted, wickedly funny and surprisingly touching, [Poles Apart] lights up the lovability of feminism and its defenders.”
Michele Landsberg
Poles Apart:“Terry Fallis writes just about the tidiest romantic comedic novels you can find on Earth.”
The Globe and Mail
No Relation: “Terry Fallis writes with a light touch and fine sense of the inherent humanity of humour, while still addressing one of the biggest questions we all have to face: Who are you? Who are you really?” Will Ferguson , author of 419, winner of the Scotiabank Giller Prize
“Born of a cheerful mood and a clever mind, Terry Fallis’s No Relation is an endearing book with a big heart.” Trevor Cole, author of Practical Jean, winner of the Stephen Leacock Medal for Humour
“Terry Fallis has done it again. Up and Down is another hilarious page-turner that also packs an emotional punch.” Ali Velshi
“Up and Down kept me smiling, made me laugh out loud, and occasionally moved me to tears.”
The National Post
Albatross
Penguin Random House Canada 7th Novel Scheduled for 2019/20 To see Steve Paikin interview Terry, click here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8JhRodY55LQ www.slopenagency.com
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Fiction
Susan Ferrier MacKay Butterfly of Venus
A
D V of
Susan Ferrier MacKay
R A G O N F L Y
Dragonfly of Venus
E N U S
A
t age 40, Elizabeth Susan Ferrier MacKay Harding, head of a is a journalist and writer who lives hugely successful music talent agency, is nursing a brooutside Toronto. ken heart and harboring a sexual secret- she has never experienced satisfaction with a partner.
Dragonfly of Venus was uthor Susan Ferrier published in German MacKay adroitly blends with Butterfly of Venus an exciting tale with an erotic by Droemer. heart. Elizabeth and Declan are now nested in a secluded retreat in Scotland, saturated in wedded bliss as parents of adorable twins.
Entering her world is Declan Thomas, a stunningly attractive, brilliant young singer/songwriter. Despite her fear of mixing business with romance, and the fact that Declan is 16 years her junior, Elizabeth is won over by the confident young man urging her to share her steamy sexual fantasies with him.
Declan, a star musician, tears himself away to fly out for a short gig. His plane crashes on an isolated rocky Scottish shore and, unbeknownst to others, he wanders in delirium, waiting for rescue. While Elizabeth awaits news, paralyzed by grief, Natasha, the woman who is obsessed with Declan, again works to usurp Elizabeth’s identity as Declan’s wife. As the stakes escalate, Natasha turns murderous. Can Elizabeth and Declan and their children get out alive?
But Declan also has a complex personal life. He is being stalked by a viperous, possessive former lover who insinuated herself into Elizabeth’s office. Elizabeth stands to lose everything: Declan, her business, her balance, and even her life. HarperCollins NA 2014 eBook Droemer Germany 2014
Droemer Germany 2014
Beverley Slopen Literary Agency
Non-Fiction
Peter Figura and Philip Slayton Tennis Crazy!
M Roger Federer
Photo: Peter Figura
Peter Figura is a tennis writer and photographer with over 40 years involvement in the game. He has been a player, coach, and umpire. He is a regular contributor to two tennis magazines, Tenisklub (Poland) and Ontario Tennis (Canada). His freelance work for Canadian Press has been published across Canada. As a photojournalist for Newspix, a major European photo agency, his work has been published in many countries. Philip Slayton is the author of Lawyers Gone Bad, Mighty Judgment, and Mayors Gone Bad (all published by Penguin Random House), and Bay Street: A Novel.
en’s international tennis has been dominated by stars known as the Big Four: Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, Andy Murray, and Rafael Nadal. They have been the focus of world interest and their popularity has been the heart of the game’s appeal. Since 2005, only three other players have won a Grand Slam Tournament. And no one else has been ranked number one. But now, new young players are challenging the old guard. With the inevitable departure from the game of the aging Roger Federer, and the likely retirement of Rafael Nadal whose injuries prevent him from dominating the game as he once did, the race to the top and the battle between the old and the young has become compelling. Tennis Crazy! offers intimate profiles of leading male professional tennis players on the ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) World such as French Open, Wimbledon and U.S. Open. It will focuss on the new contenders while acknowledging the huge and continuing influence of the Big Four. Who are these players? What drives them? What have been the highs and lows of their lives and careers? What are their foibles and eccentricities? In Tennis Crazy! we will examine a selection of the players outside of the Big Four and introduce the huge international tennis audience to the great depth of field in the men’s game and the personalities that enliven the game. The book will contain original photography by co-author Peter Figura.
Skyhorse Publishing 2018 www.slopenagency.com
Beverley Slopen Literary Agency
Fiction
Joanna Goodman The Home for Unwanted Girls
Philomena meets Orphan Train
“An emotionally raw page-turner than you can’t put down.” Brooklyn Digest
“A heart-wrenching saga of love and loss that’s not to be missed.”
Toronto Star
“Goodman’s latest is a study of how love persists through the most trying of circumstances. Deep and meaningful, this novel captures the reader’s attention until they’re rewarded with a happy ending.” Booklist
“Characters who could have easily come across as types or clichés take on a great emotional depth... The ending hits a perfect emotional note: bittersweet and honest, comforting and regretful.” Kirkus Reviews
HarperCollins US 2018 Presses de la Cité France 2018 Saint-Jean Quebec 2018 ASAII Portugal 2019 De Fontein Dutch 2019 Sharp Point Taiwan 2019 Libri Konyvkiado Hungary 2019 Ruyixinxin China 2019 Ediciones Urano Spain 2019
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I
n this triumphant love story, the lives of two young people are beset by conflicts of class and culture in 1950’s Quebec.
Maggie is the daughter of Wellington Hughes, the “Anglo” who runs a seed business selling to the French-Canadian farmers near Montreal. Her mother Hortense is a French-Canadian who refuses to speak English, but who shares her husband’s ambitions that her children should prosper in the higher status Anglo world. Gabriel Phénix, the boy from the next farm, poor and orphaned, captures Maggie’s heart. When Maggie becomes pregnant at 15, either because of a rape or her love affair with Gabriel, she suffers the full tyranny inflicted by the regime and the Catholic Church. Her baby is taken from her and either sold by the nuns to an American family, or worse, placed in an institution and declared mentally impaired. The government paid more money for wards of hospitals than orphanages. (Based on shockingly true situations in Quebec in the 1950’s, the theft of her child is similar in the experience of Ireland’s Philomena Lee.) We follow Maggie’s desperate quest to find her daughter Elodie, and Elodie’s painful loss of the family she deserves. Joanna Goodman, whose grandfather was a seed man, draws on the conflicting allegiances of her own Quebecois family for this tale that is specific to its place and times and universal in its themes. The daughter of a French-Canadian mother and the wife of a French-Canadian man, Joanna is bi-lingual and multi-cultural. Occasionally, she wishes she were firmly rooted in only one identity. Joanna Goodman is the author of four acclaimed novel. Both The Home for Unwated Girls and The Finishing School were bestsellers in Canada and the US. She lives in Toronto with her two children and her husband where they operate upscale retail linen shops Au Lit.
Beverley Slopen Literary Agency
Thriller
Joanna Goodman The Finishing School
“Suspenseful….If your guiltypleasure reads include boarding schools, secret societies, murder, and scandal, this one’s for you.” Kirkus
“The Finishing School plunges the reader headfirst into a fast-paced, nail-biting mystery that also manages to explore friendship, love, adolescence, family and motherhood. By the time you reach the unexpected ending, you’ll practically be gasping for air.” Jessica Anya Blau
“The Finishing School pulls back the curtain to expose a fascinating world of desire, betrayal, and dangerous secrets.” Lou Berney
“A compelling tale of horrific teenage secrets inside the walls of an elite school in Switzerland, unearthed with verve and sly irony. ” Deborah Lawrenson
In this provactive novel of friendship, secrets, and deceit, a successful writer returns to her elite Swiss boarding school to get to the bottom of a tragic accident that took place 20 years earlier.
O
ne spring night in 1998, the beautiful Cressida Strauss plunges from a fourth-floor balcony at the Lycée Internationale Suisse with catastrophic consequences. Loath to draw negative publicity to the school, a bastion of wealth and glamour, officials quickly dismiss the incident as an accident. But questions remain. Was it a suicide attempt? Or was Cressida pushed? Cressida’s selfish streak had earned as many enemies as allies in her tenure at the school. For her best friend Kersti Kuusk, the questions nag. Kersti marries and becomes a bestselling writer, but never stops wondering about Cressida’s unaccountable obsession with the Helvetian Society --a secret club banned years before their arrival at the school— and the pair of its members who were expelled. When Kersti is invited as a guest to the Lycée’s 100th anniversary, she begins probing the cover-up, unearthing a frightening underbelly of lies and abuse at the prestigious establishment. In one portentous moment, Kersti makes a decision that will connect her to Cressida forever and raise the stakes dangerously high in her own desire to solve the mystery and redeem her past. The Finishing School is as clever as it is compelling. It is a riveting glimpse into a privileged rarefied world in which nothing is as it appears. Joanna Goodman, the author of four acclaimed novels including the bestseller The Home For Unwanted Girls, lives in Toronto with her two children and her husband. She attended an elite swiss boarding school for a year.
HarperCollins US April 2017 De Fontein Dutch 2018 Saint-Jean North America 2019
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Beverley Slopen Literary Agency
Fiction
Don Gutteridge Lily Fairchild
P
ioneer life throbs with vitality in this magnificent saga of Lily Fairchild whose story will grip your heart and reduce you to tears.
Early Praise for Lily Fairchild: “In his masterwork of historical fiction, Don Gutteridge captures in fine, fully sensory detail the conflicts and changes of early Canada, and the prejudices, hatreds, disputes and loyalties involved in its development – all depicted through the singular experiences of a woman named Lily through the decades of her long life. There is blood and disgrace, passion and kindness, love and heartbreak and courage in Lily’s Story, every moment vividly, intimately rendered” Joan Barfoot
“Don Gutteridge’s novel is a masterly work that deserves time and attention to devour. That being said, once you start Lily’s Story, you won’t be satisfied till you reach the end. Gutteridge’s ability to draw characters that are so realistic, so likeable, is second to none.” Reader’s Favorite Reviews
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Born in 1840 near the shores of the Great Lakes, Lily begins as a shy, motherless girl, abandoned to play the hand that fate has dealt. In the course of her remarkable life ending in 1922, communities grow around her, husbands arrive and are taken, children are nurtured, and her days are filled with toil. An illiterate washerwoman and cleaner with the gift of wisdom, they are also leavened with friendship and purpose. No one stops fate. Wars are waged, fires reap destruction, runaway slaves from the South seek refuge, oil is discovered, railways arrive bringing hustlers, politicians and princes from afar. But Lily refuses to see herself as a helpless leaf in the winds of change. When the Prince of Wales, son of Queen Victoria, eyes the young beauty on his royal progress in the colonies, she chooses “agency” and knowingly accepts the Prince’s embraces. She becomes pregnant and gives birth. It affects her life but not in ways we anticipate. Don Gutteridge proves his mastery of the historical saga in Lily Fairchild that has already enchanted early readers. A longer version of it, titled Lily’s Story, was first released in a limited paperback edition of 608 pages and as an eBook. It garnered ecstatic response but at 287,940 words was deemed long by some. He has trimmed 60,000 words from it and tightened the pacing with a view to seeking traditional publication. See reviews on Goodreads here. Don Gutteridge grew up in Point Edward Ontario, the locale of the novel. It is now surrounded by the city of Sarnia on the Michigan border. As a youth he worked on the railway and listened to the voices of the people which he captures eloquently. A prolific poet and author of more than 16 novels, he is renowned for his Marc Edwards series of mysteries set in the 1840s Rebellions era in Toronto
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Fiction
Kate Hilton Just Like Family
A
Praise for Just Like Family: “Kate Hilton is really smart, funny and honest about the complex and shifting power dynamics in both domestic and work relationships.”
Kate Eberlen, author of Miss You
“No one captures the feverish intensity of modern life, with its attendant disappointments, crises, and occasional triumphs, better than Kate Hilton...Not only is Just Like Family one of the funniest books I have read in a long while, its unflinching yet affectionate portrait of beleaguered heroine Avery Graham also makes it one of the most moving.” Jennifer Robson
“Just Like Family is a witty, thoughtful and layered tale of families, friends, and lovers, and the emotional landscape they all share. It’s messy and wise, heartbreaking and heartwarming, and above all, utterly captivating.”
Terry Fallis
very Graham has three husbands. Her ex-husband, Hugh, is a mistake she won’t repeat. An illicit affair that took an unexpected turn into matrimony, Avery’s marriage to Hugh, like her twenties self, was artistic, sexy and a little bit dangerous – until it was time to grow up. She can’t face him, because she can’t forgive herself. Her work-husband, Peter, is the charismatic mayor she has worshipped since childhood. Bound together by deep family connections, and by a shared vision, Avery has never trusted anyone the way she trusts Peter. Now his Chief of Staff, Avery is at her best professional self with Peter: cool, smart, strategic, and passionate about being of service to her community, And then there is Matt, Avery’s almost-husband, her romantic partner of fourteen years. With Matt, Avery has the comfort of a spouse without any limits on her independence. Or so she thought. When Matt announces that he wants to get married and start a family, Avery’s world is turned upside down. As she considers his proposal, Avery is forced to confront her deepest fears about love and loss, and decide who she wants to be. Just Like Family is witty, funny, and profound. Kate Hilton has an English degree from McGill University and a law degree from University of Toronto. She has worked in fund-raising and public relations and made her debut as a novelist with The Hole in the Middle, a bestseller in Canada for HarperCollins and scheduled for US by PenguinRandomHouse in 2016. A 4.5 starred review of it in RT Magazine notes: “The friendships, work relationships and struggles are so beautifully depicted that you will want to read it again to pick up the wisdom you missed the first time through.” She lives in Toronto and is the mother of two boys.
HarperCollins Canada June 2017
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Fiction
Kate Hilton The Hole in the Middle A Redbook 20 Hottest Books to Read This Spring 2016
S Kate Hilton has worked in law, higher education, public relations, fundraising and publishing. She has an English degree from McGill University and a law degree from the University of Toronto. “The pacing is fast, the suspense is strong from start to finish.” Roberta Rich
“I thoroughly enjoyed it. Kate Hilton has created a warm, memorable and insightful heroine.”
Joy Fielding
“As moving as it is entertaining, this novel is crammed with funny, truthful moments that will strike a chord with over-extended women everywhere” Hello Magazine
“Wholly deserves to be set apart from other books of its ilk.”
The National Post
ophie Whelan is the epitome of the modern, successful woman. She has a great husband, two adorable children, funny, generous friends, and a high-powered job at a leading children’s hospital. When Sophie operates at peak performance, she can cajole balky employees, trouble-shoot career disasters, and throw a dinner party for 10 without anxiety. But as Sophie’s 40th birthday looms, her seamless life reveals disturbing web-like fractures. Conflict with her boss, blossoming jealousy of her husband’s femme fatale business partner, and feelings of hopeless inadequacy as a mother and daughter, crack the edifice of her life. There is a futher complication—the reappearance of Will Shannon who was the great love and crushing disappointment of her college days. He wants her to work for his family foundation. Ordinarily, it would be a dream job. Instead, the offer presents an ocean of dragons lying in ambush. Kate Hilton has a gift for creating characters who are easy to love, a flair for social comedy, and a talent for the surprising and satisfying ending. The Hole in the Middle, a Canadian bestseller, makes its US debut in 2016. Kate is completing her second novel, Just Like Family, about a woman executive who is juggling her “work husband”, her ex-husband, and her almost husband who wants a commitment. With sharp observational humour and deep poignancy, Kate Hilton explores themes of midlife disappointment and human connection.
Watch Kate Hilton’s interviews on Breakfast Television and The Morning Show HarperCollins CAN Dec 2013 NAL/Penguin Random House US 2016
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Mystery
Mary Jackman Spoiled Rotten
L
eggy, sexy Liz Walker is the owner of Walker’s Way, a funky, hip restaurant and a breeding ground for young, soon-to-be famous chefs.
Praise for Spoiled Rotten: “Liz Walker, [is] a lively and believable character... and grabs your attention. She’s a gem.” The Star Phoenix
Liz, smart and savvy, the mother of a 20-year-old son, knows how to deal with transient staff and temperamental cooks. But she is shocked when the butcher Mr. Tony, where she buys meat, is found hacked to death, the victim of a grisly murder. Moreover, she is worried when her talented young chef Daniel hasn’t shown up for work and becomes the main suspect.
“Jackman’s entertaining debut, centered on a cozy Toronto bistro, is sure to appeal to anyone interested in the restaurant business.”
Liz goes looking for Daniel and winds up in the middle of a delicious plot that includes real estate machinations, a scam for selling illegal work visas, and betrayal. The fact that the police investigator on the case, David Winn, is falling for Liz adds zest to the adventure, but also raises the stakes.
“Spoiled Rotten is Light summer fare that also makes one salivate with all its talk of food... fun and full of drama.”
Mary Jackman, like her delightful heroine Liz Walker, owns a cool and funky restaurant, the Peter Pan in Toronto’s Queen St neighborhood where a few celebrity chefs (Susur Lee) got their start. In her new venture, she gives us an insider’s view of the restaurant and food business with all of its allure and some of its tribulations.
Publisher’s Weekly
Halifax Chronicle Herald
Spoiled Rotten will entertain and enlighten anyone who has ever worked in a restaurant, dreamed of owning a restaurant, or eaten in a restaurant. And fans have a new Liz Walker installment to anticipate, titled Finger Food.
Dundurn World Rights 2012 (OP) Rights Reverted
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Mystery
Mystery
Mary Jackman
Mary Jackman
Finger Food
Take Out
T
he arrival of a severed finger in a lettuce crate at Walker’s Way Bistro draws owner Liz Walker into the intrigue of the rich farming community outShe also is the author of side Ithaca New York. Mary Jackman is the former owner of a popular Toronto bistro where several noted chefs got their start.
three Liz Walker mysteries, one of which, Spoiled Rotten, was published in Canada in 2012. Rights have reverted to the author and she has now added two new mysteries, Finger Food and Take Out. Rights are available for the series of three.
‘
Manuscript Available
Into the mix are crop circles, unrequited love, betrayal, family secrets, and murder. Liz almost falls under the spell of county womanizer John Mackinnon, but she opts to befriend his current lover Ramona. When Ramona is kidnapped and John becomes a suspect, he turns to Liz for help.
L
Praise for Spoiled Rotten: “Liz Walker, [is] a lively and believable character... and grabs your attention. She’s a gem.”
The Star Phoenix
“Jackman’s entertaining debut is sure to appeal.”
Publisher’s Weekly
“Spoiled Rotten is light summer fare... fun and full of drama.”
Halifax Chronicle Herald
Danny’s grieving sister, a university researcher, urges Liz to help her investigate his murder. She suspects that her boss and fellow researcher knows something. The trail leads Liz to disturbing cases of seniors whose deaths are reported but whose bodies have vanished. With Rick’s aid, they uncover the little known but lucrative business of selling unclaimed bodies and tissue harvesting.
The closer Liz gets to Ramona, the greater her peril. It culminates in a cornfield and a battle with hijacked threshing machine. The pleasures of this satisfying mystery include the witty, self-deprecating Liz, and her platonic friend Rick Best, who is as handsome as George Clooney and as wry as Larry David. Topping this dish are sprinkles of kitchen confidential lore.
ife at Walker’s Way Bistro gets a lot more complicated when Liz Walker receives an embarrassing delivery meant for Booty Time, the kinky sex shop next door. When Liz takes it to her neighbour, she discovers the dead body of owner Danny Nichols, naked except for chaps and a cowboy hat.
Liz Walker is a lot of fun to hang out with –in sex shops and in refrigerated research morgues. Manuscript Available
Beverley Slopen Literary Agency
Political Science/Policy
Donald J. Johnston Missing the Tide
Global Governments in Retreat
How the global optimism that characterized the 1990s evolved into pessimism and chaos. Donald J. Johnston is the former Secretary General of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. He lives in Montreal. “A stimulating testimony by one of the most important actors on the global stage at the turn of the millennium. Is it, as Johnston says, a ‘true but tragic story?’ I am not as pessimistic...I expect his lucid account will help redress a very challenging and demanding global situation.”
Jean-Claude Trichet, former president European Central Bank
“Don Johnston has written...the ‘true but tragic story’ of how the United States and its allies squandered their chance to build a better world in the 1990s. Published as Donald Trump takes office, this compelling memoir by the former secretary-general of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development will be painful reading. All the wisdom that Johnston accumulated is shared in this book to help leaders catch the tide if it ever returns.”
T
he 90s were a decade of hope in a great future that lay ahead for generations to follow. Major challenges were approached with the realization that world leadership had the capacity to not only meet these challenges, but to turn them into unprecedented opportunities for global social and economic progress. In Missing the Tide, Donald Johnston demonstrates that none of these opportunities achieved their objectives, and in some cases failed completely. Scrutinizing some of the most significant unfulfilled hopes, he uses his discerning eye to dissect the failure of the West to engage effectively with a democratic Russia after the fall of the Berlin Wall, and the European Union’s fractious path intending to become history’s largest and most competitive economy. This experienced man of the world inspects the expansion of the Marshall Plan concept to regions fractured by division and conflict, and the diminishing prospect of global free trade and investment stimulating economic growth in the developing world. He examines the absence of coordinated international action to combat climate change, the corruption in corporate governance undermining healthy capitalism, and the growing threats to democracy. Sifting through the economic, social, and environmental wreckage of the past 20 years, Johnston reflects on the failures and frustrations of international public policy. Can this rapid decline be arrested and reversed? In assessing the impotency of the international community to meet these challenges, Missing the Tide extracts some lessons to be learned and looks with cautious optimism to the future.
David Ignatius, columnist Washington Post
McGill-Queen’s U Press 2017
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Fiction
Stephen Kaladeen The Doctor and The Sunflower
A captivating interracial romantic comedy set in a small town hospital. Stephen Kaladeen, M.D. is a family physician practising in Trenton, Ontario, a small town east of Toronto His earlier book, The Secret Life of Doctors was included on the 2016 long list of 10 titles for the Leacock Medal for Humour.
R
aj Mehta, newly graduated from medical school, arrives in St. Jerome to begin his internship at a small local hospital. The shy young doctor is fortified with a supply of his mother’s frozen Indian dinners, a distressingly conservative wardrobe, and a copy of the Kama Sutra he purloined from his father’s hidden stash of books. So begins Raj’s exploration of his dual identities with its central dilemma: how can he honour his family’s Indian cultural heritage and still fully inhabit the larger Canadian society? But first on his agenda is shedding his secret shame—his woeful lack of sexual experience. His hovering parents in Toronto, with roots in the tradition of arranged marriages, have a gaggle of stylish young women from good Indian families to meet him. At the same time Raj is welcomed into the fold of three other interns and the beautiful office assistant Diana. Raj is convinced this Canadian girl is out of his league. She has landed a part in a musical opening at Toronto’s major theater and her boyfriend Star, a super-hot hockey celebrity and underwear tycoon, is back in her life. All are sweet fodder for satire, as are the life challenges on Raj’s path to self -discovery: medical emergencies, threats of government closure of the hospital, the squabbles that strain close families. As he finds love in the arms of Diana the novel ends with a rousing finale of Bollywood exuberance.
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Memoir
Eric Koch Otto and Daria:
A Wartime Journey Through No Man’s Land
E Eric Koch, who was born in Frankfurt in 1919, lives in Toronto. His grandfather was a court jeweler and his father was an officer in the German army in WWI. Eric was deported to Canada, interned as an enemy alien during WWII. On his release, he remained in Canada, making his career at the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. He also is the author of 14 works of fiction and five works of non-fiction. Praise for Otto and Daria: “No one will finish reading this lovely book without experiencing a lifting of the spirits. To read it is to appreciate the value of music, literature, the effects of war, the hopes of peace, and the world’s cultural if not its civilized values.” John Robert Colombo, author, editor and translator of more than 200 books
“With its rare blend of insight, humour and astonishing detail, Eric Koch’s memoir is a deeply moving tribute to a vivid past. Engaging and inspiring, its appeal is universal and unchanging.” The Right Honourable Adrienne Clarkson
ric Koch was 19, on holiday from his studies at Cambridge in August 1938, when he met 17-year-old Daria. She had uncombed hair, sparkling blue eyes and ambitions to be a writer. Eric, a Jewish refugee fleeing Nazi Germany, had war and uncertainty in his future. Of Daria, he noted: “Too young for me anyway. What would I do with a schoolgirl.” Yet, their encounter at a two-star hotel in the French Alps was the beginning of a five-year correspondence, set against huge upheavals. Eric was arrested by the British as an enemy alien and sent to an internment camp in Canada. Daria, daughter of a privileged and cultured family in London, struggled to find her path in the maelstrom. Her letters are fresh and reveal a lively intelligence and considerable talent. But as the war and the years unfold, increasingly dark signs emerge. Loneliness and fear propel Daria and Eric to flirt with romantic fantasies of being together after the war. Eric, unmoored from home and the family’s upscale jewelry establishment in Frankfurt, ironically, exhibited greater resilience. Daria, whose father was a renowned musician and whose mother was from the British aristocracy, suffered emotional turbulence in London. Eric had saved Daria’s letters. When he unearthed them five decades later, they shocked him and he sought news of her. Her family rebuffed him, blaming him for grievously disappointing her. Did he lead her on? Were there junctures when different decisions could have meant a vastly different outcome? This memoir of a relationship between two young people in a time of war and internment is an engrossing, poignant tale that will be embraced by readers who admire In the Garden of the Beasts and The Hare With Amber Eyes.
University of Regina Press 2016
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Memoir
Jack Kuper Child of the Holocaust
A Penguin Modern Classic “Marvellous . . . The charm and fascination of the book lie in the dual role of survival and growing up.” London Times Literary Supplement
Remarkable . . . Gripping . . . a child’s struggle for survival”
The Globe and Mail
J
“Astounding . . . a work that amounts to a letter from inside a nightmare . . . A miraculous example of the human spirit at its most resilient.”
ack Kuper was only nine years old when he came home to find everyone in his family gone. The night before, Germans had come to his village in rural Poland and taken away all the Jews. Now alone in the world, he has to change his name, forget his language and abandon his religion in order to survive. Jack wanders through Nazi occupied Poland for four years, with no place to hide and no one to trust.
“Artfully rendered . . . testifying to the spirit of a man who emerged whole from a childhood of shame and despair.”
The harrowing true story of how he survives has been hailed as a classic, as powerful as The Diary of Anne Frank, and celebrated for its rare beauty. It has been in print in various editions in English and a dozen other languages since 1966.
“He reveals the terror, the mental and physical sufferings, and the hope and courage of a youngster’s desperate will to survive.”
After the war, Jack Kuper escaped Poland and immigrated to Canada at the age of 15. He spent much of his career in advertising, producing and directing award-winning TV commercials. As a filmmaker he has written and directed several shorts. His film RUN! was honoured at the Venice Film Festival. He is also the author of After the Smoke Cleared, the sequel to this book. He now lives in Toronto with his wife Terrye and speaks often to groups about his experiences during the Holocaust.
Toronto Star
Saturday Review
Seattle Times
Penguin Random House N.Am 2019 Omniboek Dutch 2017 Robson Press UK 2013 Mexico Diana/Planeta 2009
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Canadian History
Robert Lewis Power, Prime Ministers And The Press
R Robert Lewis began as a member of the Ottawa Press Gallery reporting for the Montreal Star. He later was a correspondent for Time-Life News Service and was appointed editor-in-chief of Maclean’s. He became Vice President of Content Development at Rogers Media. “The most important book of the year…essential reading for all who believe in a free press, democracy and the critical role of responsible journalism.”
Roy MacGregor
“Bob Lewis has written a brilliant, irreplaceable book. Well written, funny, insightful...It is a remarkable celebration of our country and the value of a free and outspoken press” Bob Rae
“This is the riveting story of the men and women who wrote the first draft of Canada’s 150 year history. Bob Lewis tells it with a verve and obvious affection for a craft that has been his life’s work.”
obert Lewis gives us a vivid and stirring history of Canada and our leaders viewed through the piercing lens of the Parliamentary press corps. From the days of John A. MacDonald in 1867 to the election of Justin Trudeau in 2015 we see our powerful politicians through the colourful gang of journalists who followed them, served them, argued with them, and exposed them. Bob Lewis was a fresh-faced 22-year-old reporter when he landed his dream job in 1965, covering parliament for the Montreal Star and joining the august Press Gallery. Lester Pearson was Prime Minister, John Diefenbaker had been dispatched from Tory leadership, a sex scandal raged, the Quebec separatist movement was growing in strength, and soon Pierre Trudeau stepped forward in the struggle to hold the nation together. Major change was at the gates. A skilled reporter, Bob Lewis not only scoured the archives and memoirs of dozens of Ottawa veterans, he interviewed journalists, politicians and their families to cull their experiences of events. He has written a Canadian history like no other in bringing the personal relationships and battles between prime ministers and the press to life. Underpinning this panoramic journey lurks a welling anxiety. Newspapers and media outlets are contracting dangerously. Today, fewer organizations are sending reporters to cover parliament’s national agenda, and the diminution is producing citizens who are less engaged, and who are voting in fewer numbers.
Allan Gregg
Dundurn 2018
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Non-Fiction
Angela Mailis M.D. Smart Successful and Abused The Unspoken Problem of Domestic Violence in High-Achieving Females
E Angela Mailis probes this tender subject by interviewing victims, studying the literature, bravely presenting her own experience, and conducting informal surveys. Smart Successful and Abused is an essential book for opening the discussion and saving lives.
arly morning December 23, 2016, Dr. Angela Mailis awoke to a shocking text. Her colleague Mo Shamji, a prominent neurosurgeon who occupied the office close to hers, had been charged for the first-degree murder of his wife, family physician Elana Fric-Shamji. Her body had been found in a discarded suitcase flung from a highway bridge. Dr. Mailis, a specialist in pain medicine and knowledgeable about intimate partner violence, never would have suspected her respected colleague of the horrifying murder of his wife Elana. Angela Mailis was galvanized to investigate the persistent questions put to abused, highachieving, financially independent women: how did you get into this relationship, why do you stay, and how do you get out--alive? If it afflicts educated, empowered, privileged women what do you say to women with limited resources? According to US statistics almost five million women in the U.S. experience physical violence by an intimate partner every year. The number of women who will be victims of severe violence by an intimate partner in their lifetimes is one in four. A woman in the U.S. is beaten every nine seconds. And three women in the US are murdered every day by a current or former male partner. Intimate Partner Violence makes headlines when perpetrators are celebrities, athletes, or bureaucrats in the Trump White House. Occasionally IPV will pop up on a Netflix drama. But the conversation is muted, and the victims are the ones afflicted by shame and selfblame.
Sutherland House N.Am 2019
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Non-Fiction
Michael Marrus Lessons of the Holocaust
Winner of The Canadian Jewish Literary Award for History
Praise for Lessons of the Holocaust: “Academic memoir, erudite historiographical essay, provocative challenge to a flood of clichés, thoughtful analysis of the nature and purpose of the historical profession, and intellectual feast—Michael Marrus’ Lessons of the Holocaust is all of these and a constant delight to read.”
Christopher R. Browning
“An important argument, relevant to scholars and popular audiences alike: that we must challenge, even discard, our unquestioned pieties regarding the Holocaust. This is an excellent, stimulating book, sure to be both well received and widely discussed.” Susannah Heschel
“Fascinating book by one of the masters...”
Yehuda Bauer
University of Toronto Press 2016
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W
hen the eminent historian Michael Marrus was a student at Berkeley in the 1960’s, the Holocaust—the great catastrophe of European Jewry—was hardly a footnote to the study of WWII. However, as the full horror of Germany’s Nazi regime emerged, the Holocaust grew to become a central and confounding event of the 20th Century. As knowledge about the genocide of European Jews has exploded, the quest to distil its “lessons” has intensified. What can we learn from the Holocaust? Is there a redemptive message, or “take away” that may help prevent such depravity in the future? Teasing these lessons out of the ashes of World War II is far more complex than familiar platitudes might suggest. Who defines the lessons? Where do we look for them—to the victims, to the perpetrators, to the bystanders, to the political leaders? How do we commemorate or memorialize the Holocaust? Indeed, are there lessons? Michael Marrus, an internationally renowned historian and expert on the Holocaust, brings us into the conversation as he surveys this urgent question. Here are such authorities as Hannah Arendt, Elie Wiesel, Primo Levi, Raul Hilberg, Emil Fackenheim, Christopher Browning, Daniel Goldhagen, and others. Yet, they often come up short on definitive “lessons.” In this brief, sharp, stimulating analysis by a historian still totally engaged with his subject, Marrus offers the reader a new approach to the Holocaust lessons so many of us seek. Michael Marrus is the author of The Holocaust in History, The Nuremberg War Crimes Trial 1945-46: A Documentary History, Vichy France and the Jews (with Robert O. Paxton), and Some Measure of Justice, on Holocaust restitution. He is a Fellow of Massey College at the University of Toronto and the Wolfe Professor Emeritus of HoloBeverley Slopen Literary Agency
Non-Fiction
Ken McGoogan Flight of the Highlanders: The Making of Canada
I Praise for Ken McGoogan: “Ken McGoogan is required reading for any Canadian who wants to know the real history of our country.” —Peter Mansbridge
“Ken McGoogan is not just a journalist writing about Canada’s north, he is the ultimate guide to our last frontier. This is his natural habitat – and it shows. A mustread.” Peter C. Newman
“This is not the Canadian history that we learned in school. But it is a far more nuanced and objective view of Indigenous people in North America. For that reason alone, McGoogan’s book deserves wide readership.” The Georgia Straight
“...[written with] lively intelligence and [a] keen eye for detail... How the Scots Invented Canada provides a pleasurable way to get to know many of the most colourful men and women in our history.”
n Flight of the Highlanders, bestselling author Ken McGoogan tells the story of those courageous Scots who, ruthlessly evicted from their ancestral homelands, found themselves on the far side of the world battling hardship, hunger, and even murderous persecution. After decimating the Scottish highlanders at the 1746 Battle of Culloden, the British government banned kilts and bagpipes and set out to destroy a clan system that for centuries had sustained a culture, a language, and a unique way of life. The Clearances, or forced evictions, began when landlords – among them traitorous clan chieftains -- realized they could dramatically increase their incomes by driving out tenant farmers and dedicating their estates to sheep. Between the 1770s and 1880s, tens of thousands of dispossessed and destitute highlanders crossed the Atlantic, often in aptly named “coffin ships.” Those who survived became the first refugees -- prototypes for the castaways we see arriving today from around the world. Flight of the Highlanders: The Making of Canada, intertwines two main narratives. The first is that of the Clearances themselves, during which some 200,000 Highlanders were driven – some of them burned out, others beaten unconscious – from lands occupied by their forefathers for hundreds of years. The second story line focuses on resettlement. Most had already endured weeks-long, sickness-filled voyages with soldiers in hot pursuit. Some, having first settled in the southern colonies, came under attack during the American Revolution and fled north, loyalists with bloody-minded soldiers in hot pursuit. They dug in and with nothing but the clothes on their backs. World-wide, the descendants of the Scottish diaspora outnumber the population in Scotland.
Globe & Mail
HarperCollins Canada 2019
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Non-Fiction
Ken McGoogan Dead Reckoning:
The Untold Story of the Northwest Passage
I
n this magnificent book, Ken McGoogan weaves past and present, the personal and the historical, the scientific and the romantic, into a seamless tale.
Praise
for
Dead
Reckoning:
“Finally! A page turning book about Arctic exploration that puts the heroism and leadership of indigenous people at the centre of the story.” Bob Rae
“Ken McGoogan is not just a journalist writing about Canada’s north, he is the ultimate guide to our last frontier. This is his natural habitat – and it shows. A mustread.” Peter C. Newman
“This book is a masterpiece, settling the standard for future works on Arctic exploration.”
Victoria Times Colonist
“This is not the Canadian history that we learned in school. But it is a far more nuanced and objective view of Indigenous people in North America. For that reason alone, McGoogan’s book deserves wide readership in our country. But Dead Reckoning also deserves to be read because it is so enthralling.” The Georgia Straight
In Dead Reckoning, McGoogan reaches back to the 17thC when Arctic adventurers relied largely on speed x time to calculate their location. He conveys the sweep and splendour of Arctic history through accounts of the explorers, the fur traders, and above all the indigenous citizens who have been omitted from previous exploration narratives. Among them is Akaitcho, the Yellowknife chieftain who rescued John Franklin after he lost more than half his men on his first overland expedition. We also meet Tookoolito, an Inuk woman brought to England, who learned English and assisted Charles Francis Hall. There is Hans Hendrik, an Inuk who helped Philadelphia doctor Elisha Kent Kane. Along the way, McGoogan explodes some myths, notably the legend of Sir John Franklin’s heroism. McGoogan asserts that he was a hapless bungler who presided over the worst disaster is the history of Arctic exploration and that his prominence is due to a master spin-doctor—his wife Jane Franklin. The story of Franklin will continue today with the discovery of Franklin’s two lost ships, the Erebus and the Terror. Dead Reckoning is a finalist for the $10,000 John W. Dafoe Prize. Ken McGoogan is possibly the only historian of the Arctic who has made more than nine trips to the region, including journeys through the fabled Northwest Passage. His dozen published books include four biographies of Arctic explorers. He has won such coveted prizes as: the Pierre Berton Award for History, the University of British Columbia Medal for Canadian Biography, the Canadian Authors’ Association History Award, the Writers’ Trust of Canada Drainie-Taylor Biography Prize, and an American Christopher Award.
HarperCollins Canada 2017 Whalebay Culture China 2019
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Non Fiction
Keriann McGoogan The Field Test
A
Keriann McGoogan is an English-major turned primatologist turned editor. She has two degrees in primatology from the University of Calgary and a PhD in Biological Anthropology from the University of Toronto. She transitioned from field work in the jungle to become an acquisitions editor for a leading educational publisher. She also is a board member for Planet Madagascar, a non-profit that aims to conserve Madagascar’s unique biodiversity while also helping the Malagasy people. She lives in Toronto with her partner and founder of Planet Madagascar, Travis Steffens.
t age 25 Keriann McGoogan scored the research project of her dreams. Her thesis adviser for her PhD in primatology recruited her for fieldwork studying lemurs in the remote forests of Madagascar. He had planned to set up the site and then depart after a few weeks, leaving Keriann to share the responsibilities with key Malagasy staff. His faith in his accomplished student was well placed. Keriann was comfortable in the bush, she had prior experience studying primates in Belize, and passion for her subject drove her. “No, I wasn’t soul searching or seeking to ‘find myself,’” she says. Her earlier fieldwork in Belize had also offered enticements. There, Keriann was part of a group of sixteen women and one sole male, Travis, a fellow Calgary student. They fell in love studying the Black Howler monkeys in the Belize jungle. Travis, though, wouldn’t be with her in the terrifying Madagascar jungle far from civilization. One by one, the supports put in place by her professor collapsed. When her right-hand man became delirious with malaria, Keriann—her calm and poised exterior hiding her trembling fears—was left to lead a small band of locals on a desperate three day trek to safety. Despite the terror, readers will find much to enjoy along the journey: the beauty of Madagascar, the interesting details of the famed lemurs, the glimpses of local culture and fauna, and above all the brave, beautiful, curious young woman on the trail.
Prometheus 2020
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Non-Fiction
Michael McGuire Believing
The Neuroscience of Fantasies, Fears, and Convictions
M
ichael McGuire is a psychiatrist by training, a neuroscientist by occupation and a preeminent figure in brain-behavior research.
Michael McGuire is author or coauthor of 5 books, notably Darwinian Psychiatry (Oxford University Press) and God’s Brain. His research findings on serotonin levels and its links to dominance in vervet monkeys has been featured in the New York Times and Newsweek. His distinguished academic career includes positions at Harvard Medical School, University of California Medical School , Director UCLA’s non-human primate research facility for 20 years and Director, Gruter Institute of Law and Behavior. He lives in northern California. “An important book for any believer who now wants to know.”
—Jay R. Feierman, The Biology of Religious Behavior
“From marketing soft drinks to managing genocidal wars, the brain and its beliefs remain central. Believing will clarify how and why. It may even protect you.”
Lionel Tiger, Charles Darwin Professor of Anthropology, Rutgers University
His interest in the mechanisms and persistence of beliefs was ignited by a tearful psychiatric patient, who, for years was unable to accept that her parents, whom she loved, were her biological parents, even in the face of overwhelming evidence. Her difficulty believing irrefutable evidence led McGuire to undertake decades of research involving vervets and chimpanzees. In this short and lively book, McGuire recounts his investigation on the latest contributions of philosophers, historians, cognitive psychologists, theologians, evolutionary biologists, and brain scientists. Notably, McGuire also draws on his own research on the role of serotonin. Each discipline has something enlightening to offer, but none is sufficient. However, nowhere is there a more complete or entertaining summary of current knowledge on belief. And surprises abound. *Belief does not cause action; action often comes first. *We believe we have made a decision or a plan, that we have free will and choices are not random, but biology says otherwise. *The default state of beliefs is resistance to change. *The brain is the product of millions of years of evolution and the mechanisms responsible for belief are unperceived in awareness. *The brain, its mechanisms and its ways of processing information are unlikely to change soon. McGuire addresses features suggested in Thinking Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman and The Believing Brain by Michael Shermer but in their work, the biological mechanisms responsible remain to be specified. It is these that McGuire addresses.
Prometheus NA 2013 Obeikan Saudi Arabia 2015
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Fiction
John Miller Wild and Beautiful is the Night
P Praise for John Miller’s Wild and Beautiful is the Night: “...the book is so ambitiously and fastidiously empathetic in its execution... Miller doesn’t shy away or avert his gaze as he peels away a dozen layers of stigma.” Canadian Notes and Queries
“Wild and Beautiful is the Night joins a long list of recent novels that aim to humanize, rather than sensationalize, the world of sex work...” Hamilton Review of Books
Praise for John Miller’s A Sharp Intake of Breath: “Written with resonant imagery of speech, silence and breath, the novel is beautifully structured, including an ending that will satisfy as much as it surprises.” Martin & Beatrice Fisher Award jury, June 2008.
aulette spotted Danni as the newbie on the block when she saw her attempt a turf war with two other prostitutes. For the sake of peace Paulette decided to show Danni the ropes. That was the start of their tense, often tender friendship. Both women began on a trajectory toward middle class life. Paulette, daughter of immigrants from Jamaica, grew up in Hamilton, an industrial city on Lake Ontario; Danni was from a prosperous Jewish family in Toronto. Both were led to the streets by the grip of their addictions. In the beginning they are borne aloft by drugs, by an exhilarating sense of their own agency, and the intermittent comforts of a community where apologies are not required. But the harsh streets, the rigors of sex work, and illness, take their toll. As Paulette struggles with motherhood and sobriety, Danni spirals down. Yet, in the midst of ugliness there are glimpses of piercing beauty. John Miller unexpectedly touches the heart with moments of heroism in the fight against the forces of damage and in acts of generosity by those who have nothing. John Miller gained first-hand experience in his work for Toronto People With AIDS Foundation and other community organizations for children affected by HIV/AIDs. He earned an M.A. in International Development from the Institute of Social Studies in The Hague and is the award-winning author of two previous novels, The Featherbed and A Sharp Intake of Breath. He lives in Toronto.
“An impressive storyteller; one wonders what he’ll do next.” The National Post
Cormorant Canada 2018
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Fiction
Kim Moritsugu The Showrunner All About Eve meets The Devil Wears Prada
K
im Moritsugu’s novel The Showrunner is set inside the high stakes world of TV series production in Hollywood.
Kim Moritsugu lives in Toronto where she gives walking tours of Toronto’s North Rosedale neighbourhood, sings in a rock choir, and teaches creative writing through the Humber School for Writers. Praise for The Oakdale Dinner Club “Witty, smart, sarcastic, The Oakdale Dinner Club is a compelling read.”
– Eva Stachniak, author of The Winter Palace and Empress of the Night.
“You know when you’re reading a book and it’s so delicious that you can’t decide whether to savor or devour it? It’s like a smart, sarcastic soap opera (Gossip Girl for grownups).”
— Robin Spano, author of the Clare Vengel Undercover Novels.
“I had no idea that reading could be so much fun! This novel is a delicious romp – social satire blended nicely with food and sex, a wonderfully wicked combo.”
– Isabel Huggan, author of Belonging
Stacey McCreedy is the new young firecracker in the Hollywood firmament. She began her career a few years earlier as an acolyte to Ann Dalloni the industry legend. Clever and ambitious, Stacey originated and developed the concept for The Benjamins, brought it to Ann who was her boss at the time, and extracted a partnership agreement to coproduce it and to run it jointly. The show is a mega hit, and Stacey is now chafing to fly on her own, free from Ann’s tyranny. At 63, Ann struggles to hide her increasing vulnerability –she is losing her eye sight, her marriage is crumbling, she is gaining weight, drinking too much, and acting inappropriately. Her distrust and criticism of Stacey is increasing. So far, so stable. Then Ann hires a delightful young assistant, Jenna Kuyt, an out of work actress, who is trying to restart her washed up career at age 20-something. The sweet little thing is a master of manipulation, picking her way through minefields as the animosity between Stacey and Ann becomes murderous. Kim Moritsugu walks the delicate lines of farce and satire with agility, but readers, in a shock of recognition, will find it realistic. Kim Moritsugu is the author of six previous novels: the romantic comedy Looks Perfect (shortlisted for the Toronto Book Award), the domestic comedy Old Flames, the literary mystery The Glenwood Treasure (shortlisted for the Arthur Ellis Best Crime Novel Award), the domestic novel The Restoration of Emily (serialized on CBC Radio’s Between the Covers), the Rapid Reads short novel And Everything Nice, and The Oakdale Dinner Club.
Dundurn World Rights 2018
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Memoir
Shannon Moroney Through The Glass
W
Shannon Moroney speaks widely on restorative justice. She is also a teacher in Toronto. Learn more at: www.shannonmoroney.com Praise for Shannon Moroney: “A compelling documentation of a flawed penal system, a nuanced look at the humanity of a violent criminal, and a snapshot of the cognitive dissonance required by romantic love. Most of all, it’s a meditation on forgiveness.” - Maclean’s
“A remarkable story... of love and betrayal, of a horribly broken man’s hidden bbrutality and his ex-wife’s boundless capacity to forgive.” - National Post
UK Title: The Stranger Inside
hen Shannon Moroney married in October of 2005, she had no idea that her happy life as a newlywed was about to come crashing down. One month after her wedding, a police officer arrived at her door to tell her that her husband, Jason, had been arrested and charged in the brutal assault and kidnapping of two women. In the aftermath of these crimes, Shannon dealt with a heavy burden of grief, the stress and publicity of a major criminal investigation, and the painful stigma of guilt-by-association, all while attempting to understand what had made Jason turn to such violence. In this intimate and gripping journey into prisons, courtrooms and the human heart, Shannon exposes the far-reaching impact of Jason’s crimes, the agonizing choices faced by the loved ones of offenders and the implicit dangers of a correctional system and a society that prioritizes punishment over rehabilitation, and victimhood over recovery. Through it all, Shannon retained unwavering support from her closeknit family and golden circle of friends. In forging her own path to forgiveness –to let go of hope for a better past-- she won a fellowship to complete a Master’s degree in International Child Welfare in England at the University of East Anglia. She speaks internationally on restorative justice and has extensively toured Canada and the U.S., addressing university and high school students, prison inmates, legal and mental health professionals and law-enforcers on the ripple effects of crime for all victims and for society at large. She is a volunteer with Leave Out ViolencE and is a contributor to The Forgiveness Project, an international charity that encourages people to explore the nature of forgiveness and alternatives to revenge. Her radio documentary, In Harm’s Way, aired on CBC’s The Current in fall 2015.
Doubleday Canada Fall 2011 Simon & Schuster US 2012 Smon & Schuster UK 2013
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spine 24mm Unconfirmed
Fiction
Donna Morrissey
T N OV E L AWA R D
A D DA L L
D
neath the cliffs t of Hampden
paranoia.
he death of one mily are among
The Fortunate Brother
mystery around he stakes rise a prison
ead in years’
ENA
orytellers’
F
. nough’
E DAY ROA D
CATHERINE CHANTER
S CURES
Arthur Ellis Award for Best Crime Fiction 2017 Thomas Raddall Atlantic Fiction Award 2017 03/07/2017 11:42
Special Finishes: Matt & Spot
The exuberance of Donna Morrissey’s fans is boundless. Her six novels have been compared to Dickens, Hardy, Shakespeare and the Bible. Her literary awards are numerous, and her books have been widely published and translated into German, Japanese, Swedish, and Italian. Born in The Beaches, a small fishing outport on west coast of Newfoundland, she now lives in Halifax, Canada. “Morrissey summons energy ... the writing is poised, charged and tactile, almost biblical in places.”
The Sunday Times (London)
“Donna Morissey is one of our country’s finest writers. And The Fortunate Brother might very well be her most powerful novel to date. An intimate study of family, a murder mystery, a love song to a people and to what home truly means, I can’t recommend this book highly enough.” Joseph Boyden
W
ith The Fortunate Brother Donna Morrissey surpasses her previous accomplishments. We once again see the full range of human longing, redemption and exultation through life in a remote fishing village in the North Atlantic. Here, great environmental and technological disruptions shake both land and society. The fish are gone, taking livelihood too. It is a real place but it takes on a mythic timelessness in Morrissey’s powerful story which weaves love, grief and murder. Kyle Now, the 20-year old youngest son of Sylvanus and Addie, is a charming, popular young man. With the tragic death of his brother Chris who perished in a violent explosion in the western oil fields, Kyle feels that it is his responsibility to shoulder the family burdens. His mother, the family’s tower of strength, is undergoing cancer treatment, while his father Sylvanus takes refuge in drinking. Threatening their fragile balance are two men who menace the community. One is the feral Trap who is suspected of causing Chris’s death in the oil sands. The other is Clar Gillard, the abusive husband of Addie’s friend Bonnie. Clar’s vicious insanity was glimpsed when he tied Bonnie to a chair and sprayed her with oven cleaner. Kyle and his father have a nasty altercation with Clar Gillard and when he is found dead on their doorstep, they are suspects in his murder. Desperately, father and son struggle to protect the other from arrest and to hide their danger from Addie. Even tiny, isolated communities harbor secrets, newcomers and outsiders who create turmoil in the social dynamic. Even here there are police seeking to re-establish order. With such simple materials Donna Morrissey has fashioned a breathtaking masterpiece.
Penguin Random House Canada 2016 Canongate UK 2017
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Praise for Donna Morrissey’s Novels
“Donna Morissey is one of our country’s finest writers. And The Fortunate Brother might very well be her most powerful novel to date. An intimate study of family, a murder mystery, a love song to a people and to what home truly means, I can’t recommend this book highly enough.” Joseph Boyden
“It’s cultivated insularity feels outside time. Morrissey is a terrific mood-setter, something she does not via political, stylistic, or cultural references but through the expertly rendered dialogue.”
The Globe and Mail
“[The Fortunate Brother] gives all the pleasure of a first-rate murder mystery, but its memorable characters and sublime language make it one of the very best literary novels I have read.”
Ron Rash
“Donna Morrissey is an absolute terrific original.”
David Adams Richards
“Morrissey summons energy and passion to invest this clash of the old versus the new with an epic quality––and succeeds ... the writing is poised, charged and tactile, almost biblical in places.”
The London Sunday Times
“Haunting, emotionally insistent, lyrical and powerful in its portrait of two unforgettable women--Livvy and Gen-whose fates are entwined by a violent act, The Deception of Livvy Higgs is Donna Morrissey’s best work yet. Morrissey has brought the WWII era into the present with the disturbing intimacy of a seance. A rare accomplishment.”
Howard Norman
“Irresistible...Masterful...The rich, rocky terrain of Newfoundland has borne a native storyteller with talent to burn in Donna Morrissey.”
Dublin Sunday Tribune
“Donna Morrissey is a wonderfully gifted writer. The setting of her books is Newfoundland, but their appeal is universal. To read one of her books is to wind up laughing or crying or somehow doing both at once.”
Wayne Johnston
“Everything is hyper-vivid in Morrissey’s world, not excluding emotions, dreams and unresolved conflicts ... Morrissey reveals the beauty and the terror of two economic realities, worlds apart from us and from each other.”
Toronto Star
“...Breathtakingly beautiful...A splendidly unique novel.”
Alistair MacLeod
Donna Morrissey, author of six acclaimed bestselling novels set largely in Newfoundland, is working on two books, one a memoir, and the other a historical novel of a tragic seal hunt expedition. www.slopenagency.com
Beverley Slopen Literary Agency
Memoir
Timea E. Nagy & Shannon Moroney Out of the Shadows:
A Stunning Story of One Woman’s Survival
T Timea E. Nagy is the recipient of The Meritorious Service Decoration From the Governor General of Canada (2017), the Prime Minister’s Volunteer Award (2012), the Queen Elizabeth Diamond, Jubilee Medal (2012), and the Frederick Douglas Award from Free the Slaves International (2012) et al. In September 2018, Timea received a two-year appointment to the United Nations Financial Sector Commission on Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking. “Timea Nagy’s harrowing story deeply reports the ugliness of human trafficking. But it’s ultimately a remarkable tale of survival and resilience, with lessons for a country that considers itself to be a safe place for immigrants.” Pauline Dakin, bestselling author of Run, Hide Repeat
imea Eva Nagy was 20 years old when she answered a newspaper ad in Budapest calling for young women to work as housekeepers in Canada. The agency seemed reputable and Timea was eager to earn money to send home to her family. She had no idea that she’d been lured by a ring of international human traffickers. On arrival in Toronto, she was forced into sex labour in some of the city’s seediest nightclubs and kept by her “agents” for months until she made her dangerous escape. Allowed to stay in Canada to testify against one of her traffickers, Timea struggled to overcome her trauma until she found her purpose: working with police to break up the biggest human trafficking ring in Canada, and dedicating her life to rescuing and supporting survivors. She opened Canada’s first safe house for enslaved sex workers, healing others as she healed herself. She trained the FBI, and designed a ground-breaking training program for major banks to deal with financial crimes in the $6 billion a year illegal sex work industry. Out of the Shadows is a gripping, fast-paced journey into the underworld of human trafficking told by a brave and determined survivor. Once a voiceless victim, Timea overcame the odds to become one of the most recognized advocates against human trafficking. This is her story. www.timeaenagy.com
Above: Timea E. Nagy Doubleday Canada 2019
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Co-writer Shannon Moroney is the author of Through the Glass (Doubleday Canada, 2011, Simon & Schuster USA, UK, Australia 2012), a bestselling memoir chronicling her journey through the justice system following the violent crimes of her husband in 2005. She is a recognized advocate of restorative justice and a sought-after public speaker who addresses audiences all over the world. Shannon lives in Toronto. www.shannonmoroney.com Beverley Slopen Literary Agency
Memoir
Memoir
Marina Nemat
Marina Nemat
Prisoner of Tehran
After Tehran
Finalist for 2012 Canada Reads
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The FreePress US 2007 John Murray UK 2007 Penguin Canada 2007 Artemis Netherlands 2007 Weltbild Germany 2007 Cairo Italy 2007 Quidnovi Portugal 2007 Espasa Calpe/Planeta Spain 2007 Forum Sweden 2007 TV2Forlag Danish 2007 Psichogios Greece 2007 Tammerraamat Estonia 2007 Kinneret Israel 2007 Wisdom Korea 2007 Concept Marathi 2007 Jota Czech 2007 Planeta Brazil 2007 Trivium Kiado Hungary 2007 BWP Taiwan 2008 Alnari Serbian 2008 Duc In Altum Polish 2008 JCGawsewitch French 2008 Pustaka Alvabet Indonesia 2008 Ucila International Slovenia 2009 Pegasus Yayincilik Turkey 2010 Kalimat Arabic 2010 Sarasavi Sinhalese 2011 Film option Nerida Albanian 2017 Polirom Romania 2017
n January 15, 1982 Marina Nemat was arrested and sentenced to death for political crimes. It was a deadly time in Ayatollah Khomeini’s new regime, when her mildly critical article of the state in her high school newspaper put her on a watch list. Marina was seized from her family’s apartment in Tehran and taken to Evin prison. In a bizarre twist, one of the Revolutionary Guards, Ali, fell in love with her and plucked her from the firing squad with only minutes to spare. In return, he demanded that she marry him. If she didn’t, he said he would ensure that her family was harmed. After Ali was gunned down by rival factions and died in her arms, Marina was eventually released.
Bestseller in Germany, Italy, Canada • 5 printings in Portugal • 2 printings in Netherlands
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“...an account as graceful, honest, and revelatory as her original.”
hen Marina Nemat walks out of the notorious Evin prison at age 18, Maclean’s Magazine after being incarcerated for 2 years, 2 months, and 12 days “[a] portrait of an artist for political crimes, and crossand the evolution of an es the busy Jordan Highway activist.” Globe & Mail in Tehran to rejoin her family, she hopes to resume her life. “...a fascinating study of one woman’s struggle to But release from prison promwin back her life from ises a freedom that is elusive. the ravages of a trau- Her loving but flawed parmatic past.” ents are wary of probing the Quill & Quire details of torture and rape. Praise for Prisoner of Her high school sweetheart Andre has waited for her. Yet, Tehran she can’t tell him about her “Gripping, elegantly forced marriage to her captor, written memoir…mas- Ali, a Revolutionary Guard, or about Ali’s death, and the terly.” The Wall Street Journal miscarriage she had suffered. “Her story is unforget- She and Andre manage to table.” leave Iran to come to CanaVogue da in 1991 and to raise two “It is an act of bravery, sons. Despite her attempts to compartmentalize her presthis book” The Globe and Mail ent from her past, survivor guilt, the burden of secrets, and flashbacks of the agonies she suffered, intrude on her life as a housewife and mother Penguin Canada 2010 with a job as a waitress at a Cairo Italy Nov 2010 suburban fast food restaurant. Droemer Germany 2012 Kinneret Israel 2012
Beverley Slopen Literary Agency
Non-Fiction
Terry O’Reilly This I Know
Big Marketing Lessons for Small Business
Canada’s most famous adman spills a career’s worth of marketing secrets, so anyone can compete with the best in their business – whatever that business may be. Terry O’Reilly has won hundreds of advertising awards as a copywriter and commercial director, and is the co-founder of Pirate Radio & Television. Under the Influence is broadcast on CBC Radio and WBEZ Chicago. His audience abroad includes listeners in Britain, Germany, France, Ireland, Sweden, Australia, Japan, China, Philippines and Mexico.
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The New York Festival awarded the show the Grand Trophy as the Best Radio Program in 2011 and again in 2012. In 2011, iTunes named the show the Best New Podcast of the year, and in 2015 listed it as one of their top podcasts.
Following his bestselling Age of Persuasion, O’Reilly collects a lifetime of marketing wisdom into an indispensable guide to competing for your customer’s attention. From understanding what business you’re really in and foregoing the extra mile in favour of the extra inch, to the benefits of counter intuitive thinking and knowing an opportunity when you see one, This I Know will help anyone understand the fundamentals of good marketing strategy and building the relationships that turn good marketing into great results, no matter how big or small your budget.
Praise for This I Know:
ig Companies spend a fortune marketing their wares and services. Can yours? Invariably people ask advertising veteran and CBC Radio host Terry O’Reilly one question more than any other: How does a little business that can’t afford a big-time marketing agency access high-level marketing thinking? After decades at the helm of an award-winning advertising company, and over a decade exploring the art and science of marketing for CBC Radio, O’Reilly delivers all the answers they--and anyone with something to sell--ever wanted to know.
“This I Know opens with 14 sturdy, anecdote-infused chapters covering the basics of marketing – from strategy to storytelling to nudging – in an engaging, memorable way...the book will keep you happy and engaged.”
The Globe and Mail
Knopf Canada 2017 Booky China 2018 Chicago Review Press USA 2018
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Click here to listen to Under the Influence on CBC Radio. Beverley Slopen Literary Agency
Non-fiction
David Posen
David Posen
The Little Book of Stress Relief
Always Change a Losing Game
Stress has become an integral part of the way we live. In controlled doses, it helps us perform better. Peter G. Hanson, M.D. author of The Joy of Stress But, left, unchecked, stress and Stress for Success can leave us feeling fatigued and overwhelmed, and can “It’s amazing that such lead to a number of health a little book can deliver problems. “The Little Book of Stress Relief is filled with great tips and insights. And it’s fun to read!”
such an impact! Superb!”
Rita Emmett author of The Procrastinator’s Handbook
In The Little Book of Stress Relief, stress expert Dr. Da“I love this guy!” vid Posen teaches us how The Edmonton Sun to take back control of our “Perceptive, instructive, lives and regain a healthy productive and written work-life balance. in an entertaining fashion,” Dr. Ron Taylor, Toronto Blue Jays Team Physician
Small in size, light in tone, and rich in content, The Little Book of Stress Relief offers 52 prescriptions to help us make small changes that can have a profound positive effect on the quality of our lives.
“Everyone can relate to this book! Dr. Posen teaches us, through practical and entertaining stories, how to make our lives better in every way- and inspires us to take action!” Jack Canfield, co-creator of Chicken Soup for the Soul series
“This book makes change seem fun rather than a chore. Dr. Posen shows you how to turn dreams into reality. Begin reading any page- you’ll not want to put this wonder book down”
Christine A Padesky, PhD. co-author of Mind Over Mood Director, Center for Cognitive Therapy, Newport Beach, CA
“For a change: a practical book full of the clinical wisdom of an eperienced physician”
Dr. Stanley E. Greben, Psychiatrist
Translated into six languages Firefly Re-issue 2012
“Change is a cure for stress,” says Dr. David Posen, “yet many distressed people resist beneficial change. People keep losing in business, sports, politics and everyday life by following a game plan that doesn’t work. The solution is, always change a losing game.” Although change is potentially threatening, the prospect sounds liberating. It becomes a mechanism for gradually taking control of our lives. Using sports analogies, Dr. Posen helps people look at their failed strategies and shows them how they can change the situation. There is no shortage of advice in this intelligent, entertaining, and inspirational book on the curative powers of change.
Firefly Re-issue 2013
Beverley Slopen Literary Agency
Anthology
David Pratt A Book of Popular Verse
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David Pratt was born in England, and educated at Oxford. He immigrated to Canada in 1962, and did graduate work at the University of Toronto where he earned an M.A. and Ph.D. His published works include poetry, short fiction, and op ed columns. A major interest of his has been the life and works of Nobel Prize winners and led to his popular book The Impossible Takes Longer, published by Bloomsbury US.
hen Bob Dylan was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature—and incidentally, sparked some observations that Leonard Cohen was equally deserving –it caused many to look at “popular” literature and poetry differently. David Pratt, a scholar, poet and literary collector, has provided a stellar collection of popular, moving and amusing poems and lyrics. “These are poems that resonate in the consciousness of millions who do not consider themselves poetically sophisticated,” writes Pratt. It will be welcomed by students, teachers and the public as a book that presents poetry, not as the preserve of an elite minority, but as an integral element of the imaginative landscape. The content extends from Chaucer to Jay-Z, from Derek Walcott to John Lennon, from Dylan Thomas to Maya Angelou, from Woody Guthrie to Dorothy Parker, from Emily Dickinson to W.S. Gilbert. Each of the poems and lyrics in this rich, generous assembly are infused with delight --sometimes the delight of recognition, and other times the delight of discovery. The suggested anthology exists as a 113,000 word manuscript which can be sent on request. It also exists as a 7,000 word proposal. While many of the works are in the public domain, it is possible that using the most stringent calculation, 138 of the poets (166 of the poems) are not in the public domain.
Manuscript Available
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Beverley Slopen Literary Agency
Historical Thriller
Roberta Rich A Trial in Venice
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n 1575, when midwife Hannah Levi rescued the newborn son of wealthy Venetian parents from being slain by his larcenous uncle, she fled with the orphaned child and her husband Isaac to Constantinople.
Praise for The Midwife of Venice: “Roberta Rich introduces a unique heroine, and her wry humour leavens a serious subject.”
Globe & Mail
“The Midwife of Venice is a compelling and engaging novel, a well-researched high-stakes drama written with elegance and compassion. Fascinating!” Sandra Gulland
Praise for The Harem Midwife: “Rich describes the opulence of royal life in Constantinople set against conspiracy and betrayal... the more heavenly the surroundings, the more treacherous the characters.” Toronto Star
“The details of 16th-century life in Constantinople are delightfully portrayed, the storyline is compelling …. an entertaining read, sure to please” Vancouver Sun
Doubleday Canada April 2017 Boekencentrum Netherlands 2017 Euromedia Group Czech 2017 Kinneret Israel 2017 Hermes Bulgaria 2017
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They doted on their adopted son and allowed themselves to hope there would be no repercussions. Matteo’s entire family had perished in the plague and Hannah and Isaac were his world. But Matteo, heir to fabulous riches of the di Padovani estate, attracted the attention of Antonio Foscari, a cold scoundrel in desperate need of a fortune. Cunning and flamboyant, sporting a sinister silver nose, Foscari still is no match for his spirited accomplice, the scheming Cesca who had wormed her way into Hannah’s life. Cesca and Foscari abduct Matteo and abscond with him to Venice. Foscari plots to have the court declare him guardian—and then plans to kill the child. When Hannah, in her distress to save her child, is lured to Venice, she is arrested and jailed. She must stand trial for the murder of Matteo’s uncle. In this stew of avarice and deceit, there is one truly noble character, the esteemed architect Andrea Palladio who owns the villa adjacent to the lands once controlled by the di Padovani family. Roberta Rich secured a respected place in the gallery of historical novelists with The Midwife of Venice, which introduced Hannah. An international bestseller, it has been licensed in 18 countries. It is followed by The Harem Midwife and A Trial in Venice. In her next novel, Roberta Rich turns to the rich period in American immigrant history—the colorful, roiling quarter of New York’s 20th Century tenement district. Roberta Rich divides her time between Vancouver Canada and Colima, Mexico.
Beverley Slopen Literary Agency
Historical Thriller
Roberta Rich divides her time between Vancouver and Mexico. Learn more at robertarich.com
Globe and Mail Bestseller No. 1 BESTSELLER on Amazon.ca, and over 11 weeks on Top 100 list Doubleday Canada February 2011 Bloomsbury Berlin Germany 2011 Gallery US February 2012 MA Editions France 2012 Inkilap Kitabevi Turkey 2012 Ebury UK 2012 Juritzen Forlag Norway 2012 Medialive Content Spain 2012 Tericum Kiado Hungary 2012 Hermes Books Bulgaria 2013 Novo Seculo Brazil 2013 Kinneret Israel 2013 Court Echelle Quebec 2013 Alnari Serbia 2013 Boekencentrun Netherlands 2013 Euromedia Czech Rep. 2015 Ikar Slovakia 2015 Petrone Print Estonia 2016
Historical Thriller
Roberta Rich
Roberta Rich
The Midwife of Venice
The Harem Midwife
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annah Levi, a midwife in the Venetian ghetto, has gained renown for her skill in coaxing reluctant babies out of their mother’s bellies. One night a Christian nobleman appears at Hannah’s door in the Jewish ghetto with an impossible request.
He implores Hannah to help his dying wife and save their unborn child. The Conte offers her a huge sum of money, enough to enable her to sail to Malta to ransom her beloved husband, Isaac. Hannah delivers the infant, Matteo, a child who captures her heart. As she prepares to depart for Malta, she discovers that the baby’s uncles are plotting to murder the child in order to seize the family fortune. Hannah rescues the baby Matteo and is forced to flee her persuers. The Midwife of Venice, which has sold 106,000 copies in Canada alone, has been a triumph internationally.
“Rich describes the opulence of royal life in Constantinople set against conspiracy and betrayal... the more heavenly the surroundings, the more treacherous the characters.” Toronto Star
“Love, roses, Turkish delight, blood, babies and a plucky heroine who triumphs. A great read!” National Post
Doubleday CAN 2013 Randomhouse/Ebury UK 2014 Simon & Schuster/Gallery US 2014 Tericum Kiado Hungary 2014 Boekencentrum Netherlands 2014 Oceanida Greece 2015 Hermes Bulgaria 2015 Juritxen Forlag Norway 2015 Euromedia Czech Rep. 2015 Inkilap Turkey 2015
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annah and Isaac return in this opulent, riveting, and suspenseful tale--a sequel to the #1 national bestseller The Midwife of Venice. Hannah and Isaac Levi, Venetians in exile, and are now in Constantinople where Hannah is now midwife in the harem of Sultan Murat III. There, she’s confronted with Leah, a poor Jewish peasant girl who has been abducted and sold into the harem where she unwillingly captures the Sultan’s affection. Hannah must choose between saving the abused Leah or maintaining her relatively safe position at the palace. An adventurous, opulent and deliciously exciting read, peopled with fascinating, and unforgettable characters. It confirms Roberta Rich’s reputation as one of the most beloved historical fiction authors.
Beverley Slopen Literary Agency
Non-Fiction
Jeffrey Rosenthal Knock on Wood
Luck, Chance, and the Meaning of Everything
For readers of Nassim Nicholas Taleb and Daniel Levitin with a twist of Bill Bryson—a lighthearted, entertaining and fateful exploration of luck in everyday life. Jeffrey Rosenthal is a professor of statistics at the University of Toronto. He has been awarded the CRM-SSC Prize, the SSC Gold Medal, Fellowship of the Royal Society of Canada and of the Institute of Mathematical Statistics, and the COPSS Presidents’ Award. He has also received teaching awards at both Harvard and U of T. Rosenthal’s first book was a national bestseller in Canada and was published in fourteen countries and in ten languages. Visit him at Probability.ca and on Twitter @ProbabilityProf. “Knock on Wood is a must-read for anyone who wants to understand why things happen.” Darrell Bricker, CEO, Ipsos Public Affairs, co-author of The Big Shift
“Get this book for yourself but also for family and friends both those who believe only science has all the answers and those who swear there are mysterious forces that often determine our fate.” Michael Adams
HarperCollins Canada World Fall 2018 Hayakawa Japan 2020 Profil Croatia 2020
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or centuries, people around the world have prayed for good luck and warded against bad. Every language features a good luck greeting. Sailors have long looked for an albatross on the horizon as a symbol of good fortune. Jade, clovers, rabbits’ feet, wishbones: these items have lined the pockets of those seeking good fortune. For some, it’s bad luck to walk under a ladder, to enter and leave a home through different doors or to say “Macbeth” in a theatre. But is there such a thing as luck, or does luck often just explain common sense? Don’t walk under a ladder because, well, that’s just dangerous. You won the lottery not because of any supernatural force but because a random number generator selected the same numbers that you picked out at the corner store. You run into a neighbour from your street on the other side of the world: Random chance or pure fate? (Or does it depend on how much you like your neighbour?) Jeffrey S. Rosenthal, author of the bestseller Struck by Lightning: The Curious World of Probabilities, was born on a Friday the thirteenth, a fact that he discovered long after he had become one of the world’s preeminent statisticians. Had he been living ignorantly and innocently under an unlucky cloud for all those years? Or is thirteen just another number? As a scientist and a man of reason, Rosenthal has long considered the value of luck, good and bad, seeking to measure chance and hope in formulas scratched out on chalkboards. In Knock on Wood, Rosenthal, with great humour and irreverence, divines the world of luck, fate and chance, putting his considerable scientific acumen to the test in deducing whether luck is real or the mere stuff of superstition.
Beverley Slopen Literary Agency
Fiction
Hilary Scharper Perdita
H “Hilary Scharper deftly mines the beauty and wonder of both the human heart and nature in this haunting tale of enduring love.” Cathy Marie Buchanan
“The story moves effortlessly between two love stories, one from a hundred years ago, the other contemporary, both depicted with plausibility... Very suspenseful, the novel kept me guessing to the very end.” Roberta Rich
“Scharper’s prose. . .is just as measured, just as alluringly oldfashioned, as many a Pulitzer or Orange Prize winner before her.”
Globe And Mail
“Canadian author Scharper (Dream Dresses) shines in this surprising and engaging gothic novel… Impeccably researched and beautifully told, this is a tale that will stay with readers long after the final page is turned.”
Publisher’s Weekly starred review Hilary Scharper
istorian Garth Hellyer is bemused when he is assigned to interview Marged Brice, a resident of Clarkson Home for The Aged as part of his work on the Longevity Project. Official records indicate that she is 134 years old, arousing suspicions of bureaucratic error or major fraud. When Garth finally meets her, he is intrigued. Marged, looking as old as polished stone, her sharp mind occasionally drifting to reverie, tells him she wants to die but Perdita won’t let her. Not too old to be charmed by Garth, she entrusts him with her journal which he takes with him to his cottage near the Cape Prius lighthouse of Marged’s childhood. This remote peninsula on the Great Lakes was a summer respite for the elite, including a renowned artist who may have been Marged’s lover, and a prominent ornithologist whom Marged assisted. But Garth is also driven by his curiosity about Perdita, the name of the infant girl in Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale who is left on a seacoast to die but is rescued by shepherds.
Hilary Scharper masterfully constructs Marged’s story set in the dawn of the 1900s and its impact on the unresolved issues in Garth’s life, offering us a glorious romance of gothic and modern. Fans of Jane Eyre, Rebecca, and Possession will enjoy the rich pageant of conflicting passions, wild storms, and the mystery of the supernatural. Hilary Scharper, who lives in Toronto, spent a decade as a lighthouse keeper on the Bruce Peninsula with her husband. She also is the author of a story collection, Dream Dresses, and God and Caesar at the Rio Grande (University of Minnesota Press) which won the Choice Outstanding Academic Book Award. She received her Ph.D. from Yale and is currently Associate Professor of Cultural Anthropology at the University of Toronto.
Simon & Schuster Can 2013 La Courte Echelle Can (French) 2014 Sourcebooks US 2014/15
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Beverley Slopen Literary Agency
Non-Fiction
Edward Shorter and Max Fink The Madness of Fear: A History of Catatonia
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his important book is the first history of the psychiatric illness called catatonia, a disease that has been virtually forgotten by medicine, with dangerous consequences.
Edward Shorter is a medical historian who has written and published widely about psychiatry. Among his many published works is Endocrine Psychiatry, written with Max Fink and published by Oxford University Press. Dr. Max Fink is a clinician whose writings on melancholia, catatonia, and convulsive therapy have been internationally recognized. “Some phrases are so literary that one cannot resist the temptation to read them aloud repetitively making one’s family members frown...Not only do the authors unfold the history of catatonia... They also offer the reader a clinical lesson. Fink and Shorter want the reader to recognize the clinical picture of catatonia, to detect a severe condition that is fairly easy to cure.” Pascal Sienaert, Journal of ECT
The main symptoms of catatonia affect movement and thought, including staring, stupor, mutism, food refusal, negativism and even psychosis. During a stupor, patients often experience terrifying images and thoughts. In 1874, these age-old symptoms were brought together in the single term “catatonia” by German psychiatrist Karl Kahlbaum. Thirty years later, catatonia disappeared from view as an independent illness, and was turned into a “subtype” of dementia praecox (schizophrenia). There, catatonia remained submerged from view for almost a century. It was rediscovered as a disease of its own only in the 1990s. Today, catatonic symptoms are seen in ten percent of admissions to psychiatric emergency departments. It is relatively easy to treat but untreated, catatonia can have a fatal outcome. Unlike schizophrenia, catatonia responds readily to therapy and symptoms vanish without a trace. Those afflicted sometimes have been described as “Lazurus patients.” They may have languished for years or even had “hospice papers on their bed stands.” But since the 1960s, with lorazepam or electroconvulsive therapy, even those in long-term catatonic stupors can be given new lives, often without relapse, or residual symptoms. It is a kind of miracle. This book is about that miracle. What triggers catatonia? In this fascinating history, replete with dramatic case studies, the authors argue that it may be a complex response to fear and alarm, or trauma. Increased awareness is essential.
Oxford University Press World English June 2018
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Beverley Slopen Literary Agency
Young Adult Fiction
Robin Stone No, No Gnome
A
Robin Stone lives in Toronto with her husband, two sons and little red poodle. She has published essays and, prior to children, managed a bookstore and held several positions in the publishing industry. There are no gnomes in her home.
t 16, Freddy Tanz – hormone-addled, occasionally awkward, and completely in love – has an exceptional problem. The garden gnome his mother bought at an antique store has taken up residence in his head like a malevolent parasite. The 200-year-old desperate soul that lives within the gnome needs Freddy’s help to find its way to the next world by encouraging the boy to murder another human. The diabolical creature, called Gnome Waiting for the Right Time, continues to torment Freddy, and accompanies him and his family on their summer holiday to their lakeside community. Meanwhile, Freddy’s rival Jason tricks Freddy, who has loved Star forever, into revealing his romantic feelings for her. When Freddy blurts out his longing to Star, and leans in for his first kiss, he is humiliated by the appearance of her new boyfriend. His anger toward Jason prompts him to join the gnome by luring Jason into a drinking binge that will result in an alcohol- induced coma. When Freddy realizes what is happening and tries to rebel against the villainous beast, the gnome offers Freddy an impossible choice: either let Jason die or kill Star by sundown. “Choose one or the other or I will murder both,” says Gnome Waiting for the Right Time. This imaginative tale is grounded by vivid characters, fast, witty di logue and the engaging, self-deprecating Freddy to bring us a story about growing up, the strength of family, opening one’s heart, and finding the courage to do what is necessary in the face of insurmountable adversity.
Manuscript available
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Beverley Slopen Literary Agency
Fiction
Michelle Tisseyre The Golden Hour
T Reviews of Divided Passions (Key Porter 1997) The French language version, La Passion de Jeanne, was published by Robert Laffont, 1997 “…a great read reminiscent of The Forsyte Saga. It might be a bit bleaker than John Galsworthy, but it reads like a thoroughly 20th century novel—the writing is sleek and forward-moving...” Globe and Mail
he Golden Hour is a powerful love story set against the sweep of history and the complications of great passion. Louis Marshall, an idealistic young British doctor in Montreal 1928, has fallen in love with Jeanne, a married woman from a prominent Catholic family, whose vengeful husband refuses to divorce her and denies her access to their nine-year-old daughter Kitty. Forced to leave to start a new life, the lovers reunite in New York and sail for England, where the scars of the Great War are still fresh, and an unequal society is soon to be riven further by the Crash of 1929 and its aftermath. Returning to Louis’ hometown of Cambridge and a past he keeps to himself, Louis begins a life of service while Jeanne, unmoored from her roots and torn from her daughter, struggles against insecurity and isolation. After one last attempt to reconnect with Kitty ends in failure, Jeanne commits herself fully to her new life and Louis takes over a country practice in a hardscrabble, backward area of Cambridgeshire. But as storm clouds gather over Europe and social unrest spreads to Britain, tragedy strikes, driving Jeanne and Louis apart, just as the drumbeat of war grows ever louder. Tisseyre’s story spans the tumultuous decade of the 1930’s in Montreal, New York, and the U.K., bringing vividly to life an era of elegance and ease for some, grinding poverty for others, student unrest at Cambridge University, Hunger Marches to London and violence at the hands of Oswald Moseley’s Blackshirts, with another war coming and people desperate to stop it. Michelle Tisseyre is a novelist equally at ease in French and in English. Her best-selling first novel, Divided Passions (La passion de Jeanne) was published in Canada by Key Porter and in France by Robert Laffont. She lived in England for several years but has returned to her home in Montreal. She is the mother of seven children.
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Beverley Slopen Literary Agency
Biography
Sandra B. Tooze Levon Helm: Life Is a Carnival
S Sandra Tooze garnered worldwide acclaim for her book Muddy Waters: The Mojo Man. Eric Clapton wrote the foreword, and Levon Helm and Mick Jagger both endorsed it in back-cover quotes. The reviewer for America’s preeminent blues magazine, Living Blues, called it “a first-rate biography … An illumination and a joy, it deserves a place on our shelves as a loving and earnest tribute to one of the greats of American music.” On Britain’s BBC Radio, her book was described as “terrific … absolutely great.” And in the U.K.’s premier music magazine, Mojo, it was praised as “a vivid, brilliantly researched portrait.”
andra Tooze, author of the acclaimed biography, Muddy Waters: The Mojo Man, turns to Levon Helm in this biography of a talented, often tragic musician in the era that saw the convergence of blues, country and R&B. As a young man, Levon Helm emerged from the cotton fields of Arkansas to join rockabilly wild man Ronnie Hawkins, whose band soon included Robbie Robertson. By the mid-1960s, they had left Hawkins and were playing with Bob Dylan (Nobel Prize winner) and on their way to making rock history as The Band. Levon, a drummer who played mandolin, guitar, and bass guitar, was listed by Rolling Stone Magazine as one of the top 100 Greatest Singers, and was praised by Bruce Springsteen. His influence extended to other musicians like Eric Clapton, Elvis Costello, Elton John, Ringo Starr and George Harrison. He won three Grammys for his own albums and as a member of The Band, he was inducted in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. But exciting youth gave way in his last 36 years to feelings of betrayal by his closest friend Robbie Robertson whom he accused of disloyalty and financial misconduct. Helm died in 2012 at age 71 after a long struggle with cancer. Levon Helm: Life Is a Carnival will be the first full-length, penetrating biography of this versatile musician and actor. His autobiography presented the story as seen only by Helm, his closest friends and loved ones. Tooze’s book expands that perspective stepping back and take an all-inclusive view — warts and all. It will be an objective, balanced portrayal.
Manuscript Available
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Beverley Slopen Literary Agency
Mystery
Morley Torgov Herman Preiss Mysteries
Six captivating myteries set among the decadence and intrigue of 19th century composers, penned by an award-winning author. Murder in A-Major and The Mastersinger from Minsk were published in Canada by Dundurn, but rights have since reverted. Both are published in France by Actes Sud. Murder in A-Major is published in Greece by Metaixmio Publishing, and in Korea by Sallim Publishing. Morley Torgov is one of Canada’s best-loved authors of both fiction and non-fiction. His works include A Good Place to Come From and the classic The Outside Chance of Maxamillian Glick (both awarded the Leacock Medal for Humour), and St. Farb’s Day. “Torgov has just the right feel for this kind of writing, never coy, solid with his history but not allowing the facts to get in the way of a good joke.”
Toronto Star
Herman Preiss is the urbane detective of the 19th century world of classical music, where composers were stars and their monstrous egos rivaled the celebrities of today.
Murder in A-Major
The dazzling world of Robert and Clara Schumann is rocked by murder as questions of the maestro’s sanity loom.
The Mastersinger from Minsk
Wagner works to produce a career-salvaging opera as death threats haunt the opening night.
Key Witness
Franz Liszt, heart throb of Europe’s concert world, accepts PT Barnum’s invitation to tour the US with Mark Twain, and ends up caught in a deadly war between the two piano makers vying for his endorsement.
Twilight of a God
Tchaikovsky and his secret male lover travel to Bayreuth to review an opera, and end up suspects in the murder of a wealthy woman.
Death of a Critic
A racist critic complicates a young Mahler’s life in more ways than one when his death puts Mahler at the center of a murder investigation.
Over His Dead Body
At the height of his fame, Mahler is embroiled in a mysterious death that brings Herman Preiss to his door again.
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Non-Fiction
Michael Ungar, Ph.D. Change Your World
The Science of Resilience and the True Path to Success
M
ichael Ungar, acclaimed author and researcher in psychological resilience, has uncomfortable truths for those who hector people to pull themselves up by their bootstraps.
Michael Ungar is author of Too Safe For Their Own Good: How Risk and Responsibility Help Teens Thrive, The We Generation: Raising Socially Responsible Kids, and I Still Love You: Nine Things Troubled Kids Need from their Parents. He is founder and Director of the Resilience Research Centre where he coordinated more than $10 million dollars in funded research in a dozen countries. He consults with organizations such as the World Bank, UNESCO and the Red Cross.
“Even Cinderella had a fairy godmother,” Dr. Ungar says. Persistence, smarts, or decency can take you only so far in life. We need environments rich in opportunities that make it possible for us to realize our talents, exploit our positive character traits, and reward us for our efforts. “Resilience depends just as much on what we have on the outside as what we have on the inside,” Ungar explains, poking holes in the belief that grit is enough. With his research in 40 countries spanning more than a decade, Dr. Ungar identifies a shortlist of 12 experiences we need to recover and thrive when our lives are in turmoil. These include not only lots of strong relationships with family, friends and colleagues but also structure, reasonable consequences, a powerful identity, control over things that matter, fair treatment, safety, financial confidence, positive thinking, and the physical capacity to do what we need to do. Using real life examples of people who have beat the odds, Dr. Ungar shows how we can shape our environment to our benefit when events bite. His advice is compassionate, empowering and, best of all, grounded in the experiences of the thousands of people with whom he’s worked. Michael Ungar is Principal Investigator for the Resilience Research Centre at Dalhousie University, in Halifax, Canada, His blog Nurturing Resilience appears on Psychology Today’s website reaching some 50,000 readers. In the past ten years, he has delivered more than 500 keynote and workshop presentations. Learn more at: www.michaelungar.com
Sutherland House 2019
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Fiction
Rangeley Wallace Redwood Summer
Rangeley Wallace moved from Alabama to Washington, D.C. where she is an author and a lawyer. She is the author of No Defense (St. Martin’s Press). Learn more at: www.rangeleywallace.com
Before Annie can celebrate, her husband John lands his dream job— President of the University of South Alabama—which means moving the family from Washington DC to Carsonville and leaving the life she loves. Annie is devastated. Family comes first, though, and she reluctantly accepts a post as a “spousal hire” at USA’s law school to run a legal clinic in environmental law. The problem is that legal clinics require real legal cases and Annie, embarrassingly, doesn’t have one for the start of term.
Praise for No Defense “Wallace avoids any Grishamcome-lately clichés in this interesting novel of southern justice... This page-turner of a novel is refreshing in it’s uncommon perspective, as opposed to the usual legal novel that focuses on lawyers.” Booklist
“Rangeley Wallace has written a taut, compelling Southern drama that is cut from the same cloth as Harper Lee and the early William Faulkner.” Winston Groom, author of Forrest Gump
“A riveting courtroom drama… Another fine story in the Southern literary tradition.”
Library Journal
Manuscript Available
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Annie Fitzpatrick is committed-- to her husband, to her kids, and to protecting the environment. She teaches environmental law at George Washington University and has been awarded a prestigious grant to stop gas companies from fracking on public lands.
Then, a great case swims into her orbit, requiring a pact with the devil. William Davidson, the great unresolved love of her youth, enlists her and her students to take the case of saving the Muskogee National Forest, which Annie has grown to love. In her college days at Stanford, Davidson, a notorious and charismatic activist, held Annie in his thrall. It was her summer of the Redwood protests. He betrayed her, but worse, he seduced her to stray from her ethical bedrock. It is a source of enduring shame which she has kept secret from her family and her husband. She and Billy are united once more by their passion against a common cause, even as the shadows and temptations of their history linger. With the clock ticking and the forest at imminent risk, she and Billy and her students begin the court fight of their lives. But as angry protest demonstrations divide the town and the secrets of her past go viral, the situation becomes explosive. Redwood Summer is an engrossing exploration of the intensity of first love and the lengths we will go to follow our passions, It will appeal to readers of Kristin Hannah, Randy Susan Meyers and Karen White and represents Rangeley Wallace’s finest work.
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