“The most impressive novel of the season,” said the Toronto Globe and Mail on Come From Away’s initial publication. Reviewers Canada-wide saluted the unforgettable portrait of a small Atlantic island where traditional ways encounter threatening change, and romance brings fierce and comic clashes. 

Reviews in the Toronto Star, Maclean’s, and elsewhere praised the humour, the story, and the dialogue. Just as much, readers themselves loved the descriptions and the feeling of community. For these post-Covid days when many people are thinking of moving to a smaller town or village, here’s an excerpt:

I done good enough comin’ back here, thought Alden, remembering his years of tending weir and handlining and cutting wood. . . . On the island there was a top layer of friendliness that belied the deeper layer of spite, suspected plots, and inbred politics that made hard-core Liberals boycott Emily’s store and rank Conservatives boycott Burt’s. The woman from away would soon learn about the pettiness. But then there was another layer she might never see, thought Alden, the judgement and quick generosity that when something really bad happened made everybody on the island like your brother and sister.

Read the re-issued Come From Away for a look at the challenges and fun of places where people actually know one another.

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Some reader reactions –

·         “I'm halfway through The Citadel Summit and the thing's a hoot. I can't put it down. I'd even go as far as to call it a piece of comic genius.”

 ·         “I was captivated by this book and read it in one day. It is hilarious with twists and turns that will put a smile on your face.”

 ·  “The Citadel Summit is Elmore Leonard filtered through Yes, Minister.”

 And what they discovered –

 ·        “If you've failed to see the humour so far in Canadian bureaucracy and politics, federal-provincial relations, English/French, West/East, Indigenous/White and other bust-ups, then this book is for you.”

 ·        “A great read especially for those of us who have worked in the Federal or Provincial governments. Classic tales of colonialism, bureaucratic bungling, Fed/Prov infighting, Indigenous people, cover-your-butt scenarios, pontificating, promoting the incompetent, plus a touch of religion including a shaman.”

The story in a sentence:

Canada’s first Indigenous Governor General and federal bureaucrat Jack Solenko try to host an international gathering at Quebec’s famed Citadel, but get locked up with their lives threatened as an oil-mad Prime Minister battles a separatist Premier, the Premier’s beautiful Siren of Sovereignty maddens Solenko, Québécois nationalists invade the Citadel, and a First Nations renegade kidnaps the porn-starlet niece of a U.S. candidate for President.

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