Good novel set in Canada

[AnneJones]

I'm off on holiday in a few weeks (last before officially starting TTC) to Canada. I like to read novels on holiday that are set in/near where I am.

So could anyone recommend any good novels set in Canada? I am already planning to borrow Tenderness of Wolves from a friend to take.

one of my favourites is the Colony of Unrequited Dreams ( great title huh!) by Wayne Johnston. It is just fabulous!!

Do you like Margaret Atwood?
Robertson Davies has the enchanting (IMO) Salterton Trilogy, set in...Salterton, Ontario. That is a vintage (50s/60s) read, a real doorstep of three interlinked medium-length novels, and has moments of great sadness as well as a lot of very funny set pieces (the local Am Dram Club's performance of The Tempest being a highlight). You have to be a Jungian by inclination to really buy into Davies' view of humanity, which is endlessly tolerant and wise.

oh yes, Atwood.

The Alastair Macleod collection of short stories - The Lost Salt Gift of Blood - is absolutely fantastic.

Try also Annie Proulx - Shipping Forecast.

Or even Anne of Green Gables

Donnie I am trying to think of a really Canada-specific novel of hers though
To my shame I can't even remember where Alias Grace is set
And isn't The Handmaid's Tale set in the USA?

isn't Alias Grace set in Toronto ? and Colony of Unrequited Dreams is set in Newfoundland.

Ah some great ideas here - thanks! I've read Alias Grace many times, it's wonderful. Actually not a fan of Atwood apart from that one. Shipping News was also wonderful. Off to 'amazon' the others to see which I shall send off for. Keep them coming!

(Anne of Green Gables - I could recite them word-for-word I am sure - Gilbert Blythe is the long lost love of my live...after Rhett Butler and Gil Grissom...)

ps. Going to Tremblant and Montreal - trying to catch the last bit of snow to ski on, and failing that, to sit in the spa and read!

Another vote for The Shipping Forecast - I loved it.

Donnie - Colony f Unrequited Dreams sounds fab....but the well-known online store appears not to stock it 'new'! - I might try to buy a copy out there.

*thinks to self 'an excellent excuse for some international bookshop browsing'....

ps. Waswondering - no I don't think I am Annie Jones of the Guardian letter. Though I wish I was. It sounds exciting. What's the story?

Fall on your Knees - Ann-Marie MacDonald is a great read, is set in Cape Breton (Nova Scotia)

Also Carol Shields - Larry's Party is hilarious, and The Stone Diaries is an excellent book. She writes a lot of short stories as well.

Alice Munro - The Love of a Good Woman I really liked.

Oh. If you want fun, light hearted reading try the Kathy Reichs series involving Tempe Brennan who is a forensic anthroplogist. Fab books and she (KR) doesn't go a bit loopy midway through the series like Patricia Cornwell did. All set in Montreal.

really really like Colony of Unrequited Dreams as well

The Tenderness of Wolves by Stef Penney. Outstanding.