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What's New...
In his new novel, Wayne Johnston resumes a story he began in The Colony of Unrequited Dreams and gives us a riveting narrative with Sheilagh Fielding, one of the most memorable and beloved characters in all of Canadian fiction, at its centre.
 The Custodian of Paradise
Fiction
Knopf Canada
Hardcover, 576 pages
September, 2006
It is the waning days of World War II and St. John's is a city of wounded or absent men. At the beginning of the novel, Fielding as she is almost universally known is headed for Loreburn, a deserted island off the south coast of Newfoundland. She brings two enormous trunks full of provisions that will make possible an extended stay. Gradually, we begin to learn what has brought her, a lame woman with a broken heart, to a wild island populated by horses, dogs and, perhaps, one other person she has never seen. He is the one who has been shadowing her since she made a mysterious pilgrimage to her mother's house in New York City more than two decades earlier.
Praise for Wayne Johnston
Wayne Johnston is prodigiously talented.
-- The Globe and Mail
Wayne Johnston is a brilliant and accomplished writer and his Newfoundland boots and boats, rough politics and rough country, history and journalism is vivid and sharp.
-- Annie Proulx
Unlike most recent bestselling novels that are remembered for the plane flight and then promptly forgotten, Wayne's stories have characters who move in and take up permanent residence.
-- Mary Walsh
[Johnston is] a literary giant who has god-given talent.
-- Will Ferguson, The Globe and Mail
His books are beautifully written, among the funniest I've ever read, yet somehow at the same time among the most poignant and moving.
-- Annie Dillard | |
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Welcome to my web site. I feel like adding said the spider to the fly. I'm writing to you from a sound-proofed bunker in my basement. I have a low tolerance for noise, one of the reasons that I prefer to write at night - sometimes all night. If you have questions about me or any of my books, I'll do my best to answer them. I really appreciate direct feedback from readers, especially the ones who like my books. It won't change the way I write my books and my answers may not change the way you read them, but at least we'll have closed that gap between writer and reader.
It's going to be a very busy fall for me what with my new book, The Custodian of Paradise, coming out in early September. The Custodian of Paradise marks the return of Sheilagh Fielding from The Colony of Unrequited Dreams. I thought that since I was constantly returning to her in my mind, seeing the world as she might have seen it, I might as well bring her back in a book. Writing about her was like spending time with a friend who's been living next door, the two of us promising to get together some time but putting it off too long.
I'll be traveling a lot, to just about every city in Canada, so I may see some of you along the way. To send me an email, click here. Should I not respond to your queries or comments, please alert my publicist Sharon at sklein@randomhouse.com and tell her of my inexplicable silence. See you on the literary hustings.
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On-sale date: September 12 / Pub date: September 16
AUGUST:
- TORONTO: August 10 | Chapters Presentation
- NEWFOUNDLAND, Woody Pt: August 17-20 | Bryan Prince will sell books
SEPTEMBER:
- TORONTO: September 18-20 | contact: Sharon Klein at 416-957-1562
- SAINT JOHN: September 25 with an event at UNB | contact: Melanie Jollymore at 902-827-3126
- FREDERICTON: September 26 with an event at UNB | contact: Melanie Jollymore at 902-827-3126
- HALIFAX: September 27 28 with an event at Frog Hollow Books | contact: Melanie Jollymore at 902-827-3126
- ST. JOHN'S: September 29 with an event at Chapters | contact: Melanie Jollymore at 902-827-3126
OCTOBER:
- CALGARY: October 2 11-15 with events at the Writers Festival | contact: Cathy Tippett at 403-289-4649
- OTTAWA: October 6 7 with events at the Writers Festival | contact: Jennifer Tiller at 613-237-4320
- WINNIPEG: October 10 with an event at Chapters | contact: Rorie Bruce at 204-489-2125
- EDMONTON: October 17 with an event at Volume II | contact: Merle Jones at 780-474-4620
- VANCOUVER: October 4 18-21 with events at the Writers Festival | contact: Margaret MacKinnon-Cash at 604-812-2367
- VICTORIA: October 20 with an event at Bolen Books | contact: Margaret MacKinnon-Cash at 604-812-2367
- TORONTO: October 24 25 with events at the IFOA | contact: Sharon Klein at 416-957-1562
- MONTREAL: October 27 with an event w/ Paragraphe | contact: Rita Schaffer at 514-937-1039
NOVEMBER:
- WATERLOO: November 1 event at Words Worth Books with Anita Rau Badami and Tim Taylor
- HAMILTON: November 2 event with Bryan Prince, Richard Bachmann, Anita Rau Badami and Tim Taylor
- OAKVILLE: November 5 Bookers brunch
- KINGSTON: November 3 event with Indigo and Noah Richler
- KINGSTON: November 22 at Queen's University
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