Description:
The snowed-in town of Struan in the northern Ontario landscape of Road Ends is again the brilliant backdrop to Mary Lawson's new novel. And while it fully stands on its own, there are glimpses and references relating it to her 2 much loved earlier novels--beloved characters from Crow Lake reappear (including Luke and outspoken little Bo, who stole so many hearts: Bo now in her late teens, as captivating and forthright as ever). The individual small town characters are still with us, old, buried tales resurfacing, but here a new generation is growing up, dealing with chaos, loss and love and finding their way in the world--this time in the late '60s. A new family is at the centre of Mary's third novel--the Cartwrights--with its 5 children (from newborn infant to the rambunctious twins and their dependable older sister Meg, and Tom) and their father--a man absent in spirit if not in fact, --and mother, who dotes on giving birth to babies but is herself oddly and worryingly fading away. The gripping story is triggered by the suicide of young Tom Cartwright's best friend, Rob, after Rob has accidentally killed a child while drunk driving. Tom is devastated, and the tragedy will brings to the surface independent desires and needs, and leave the family deeply changed as it finds its way towards understanding and new beginnings.
