“Autumn...the year's last, loveliest smile.” - William Cullen Bryant
Happy autumn everyone! I hope everyone had a fantastic weekend, despite the chilly weather we have received!
Thank you to all who came out on a rainy Saturday afternoon- it was a wonderful surprise to see some of you at this year's Word on the Street!
Special note: While strolling towards College Street towards the Bestsellers Tent on Sunday, who should I bump into on the street but author Cathy Buchanan herself (her novel, The Painted Girls, was one of our picks in the previous months and also came to visit us during one of our meetings)! Happily, she recognized us and remarked that she took Shirley's travel advice on visiting the Northern UK for inspiration on her next novel- and even brought her son along on what she said was a fantastic trip.
Some great events/places to visit that we have brought up during the meeting:
Love to take in a nice play? Check out some great performances at The Village Playhouse
From book to the stage: Les Miserables is here in Toronto and begins on Sept 27. I think i'll be playing " I Dreamed A Dream" on rotation!
In theatres: Prisoners, starring Hugh Jackman and Jake Gyllenhaal is a gripping crime drama- directed by a Canadian director (woot!) this film will sure to keep you hanging until the very end- very well directed, and the actors were phenomenal. It was one of the top three films of the People's Choice at TIFF!
For those who did go to TIFF this year, I would love to hear your recommendations: I personally went to see The Railway Man, starring Colin Firth and Nicole Kidman (which received standing ovation), based on the moving memoir of Eric Lomax, as well as A Promise, with Alan Rickman and Rebecca Hall. Both exciting films to look for this year- perhaps even Oscar nods?
Speaking of which, later in the months to come, I hope to do a book-to film selections in light of the Oscar season- let me know what you think!
In theatres: Prisoners, starring Hugh Jackman and Jake Gyllenhaal is a gripping crime drama- directed by a Canadian director (woot!) this film will sure to keep you hanging until the very end- very well directed, and the actors were phenomenal. It was one of the top three films of the People's Choice at TIFF!
For those who did go to TIFF this year, I would love to hear your recommendations: I personally went to see The Railway Man, starring Colin Firth and Nicole Kidman (which received standing ovation), based on the moving memoir of Eric Lomax, as well as A Promise, with Alan Rickman and Rebecca Hall. Both exciting films to look for this year- perhaps even Oscar nods?
Speaking of which, later in the months to come, I hope to do a book-to film selections in light of the Oscar season- let me know what you think!
Thanks to all who submitted their Giller Prize Longlist titles! I have used randomizer to determine which title will be our pick- and as a result:
It's Barbara's choice!
The Crooked Maid by Dan Vyleta:
Summary:
From the writer praised as a cross between Hitchcock and Dostoyevsky, a dark and suspenseful novel set in post-war Vienna among the spectators in a criminal trial.
Mid-summer, 1948. Two strangers, Anna Beer and young Robert Seidel, meet on a train as they return to Vienna, where life is just resuming after the upheavals of war. Men who were conscripted into the German army are filtering back home, including Anna's estranged husband, Dr. Anton Beer, who was held prisoner in a brutal Russian camp. But when Anna returns to their old apartment, she finds another man living there and her husband missing.
At his own house, Robert is greeted by a young maid with a deformed spine. The household is in disarray, with his mother addicted to narcotics and his stepfather, an industrialist and former Party member, hospitalized after a mysterious attack.
Determined to rebuild their lives, Anna and Robert each begin a dogged search for answers in a world where repression is the order of the day. Before long, they are reunited as spectators at a criminal trial set to deliver judgement on Austria''s Nazi crimes.
In The Crooked Maid, Dan Vyleta conjures up a city haunted by its sins and a people caught between the needs of the present and debts owed to the past.
To learn more about the author, visit the HarperCollins Canada website!
Happy reading!
The Crooked Maid by Dan Vyleta:
Summary:
From the writer praised as a cross between Hitchcock and Dostoyevsky, a dark and suspenseful novel set in post-war Vienna among the spectators in a criminal trial.
Mid-summer, 1948. Two strangers, Anna Beer and young Robert Seidel, meet on a train as they return to Vienna, where life is just resuming after the upheavals of war. Men who were conscripted into the German army are filtering back home, including Anna's estranged husband, Dr. Anton Beer, who was held prisoner in a brutal Russian camp. But when Anna returns to their old apartment, she finds another man living there and her husband missing.
At his own house, Robert is greeted by a young maid with a deformed spine. The household is in disarray, with his mother addicted to narcotics and his stepfather, an industrialist and former Party member, hospitalized after a mysterious attack.
Determined to rebuild their lives, Anna and Robert each begin a dogged search for answers in a world where repression is the order of the day. Before long, they are reunited as spectators at a criminal trial set to deliver judgement on Austria''s Nazi crimes.
In The Crooked Maid, Dan Vyleta conjures up a city haunted by its sins and a people caught between the needs of the present and debts owed to the past.
To learn more about the author, visit the HarperCollins Canada website!
Happy reading!
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