THE OTTAWA REVIEW OF BOOKS

We are back with our first issue of 2020. In it, our core review team looks at four novels. The first, The Far Himalaya by Phillip Ernest is a fascinating tale of homelessness, erudition and love, all most likely inspired by the author's own experience. The second,...

Reviewed by Timothy Niedermann

The similarity of the promotional blurb on the back cover of this novel to the author’s biography suggests that much of what is in The Far Himalaya is based on author Phillip Ernest’s real life.

Like the author, the novel's protagonist Ben...

Reviewed by Ian Thomas Shaw

Joe Adler's hometown of Black River was once a thriving mining and logging town. Now, it is struggling to survive. Many of the men have moved out to find work elsewhere. But Joe is a third-generation Black River logger and has no intention of...

Reviewed by Wendy Hawkin

This novel is my literary pick for 2019. I rarely buy fiction, especially hardcover novels, but this one jumped off the shelf at my local Indie bookstore, and when a book claims you like that, you have to take it home. Besides, the black, silver...

Reviewed by Ian Thomas Shaw

Phil Brenner's life resembles a house waiting to be torn down and replaced with something bigger and newer. The highlights of his career as a journalist are blurring. He feels unfairly sidelined by the younger generation who show no deference...

We hope that this issue might sway your Christmas purchases. Topping our list is The Ghost Garden by Susan Doherty. Winner of the prestigious Mavis Gallant Prize for Non-Fiction, the novel is a masterpiece. We reviewed The Ghost Garden in the February 2019 issue of the...

The Ottawa Review of Books' Caroline Vu interviews award-winning Montreal writer, Susan Doherty, in this month's issue.

CV: Congratulations, Susan on winning the Quebec Writers' Federation Non-Fiction Prize for The Ghost Garden! The book has been translated into...

Reviewed by Ian Thomas Shaw

If literary fiction should be primarily interpretative, with its core purpose to help the readers understand the world around them, then The Daughter's Story by debut novelist Murielle Cyr is a brilliant example of this genre. Driven by a wel...

Reviewed by Sonia Saikaley

Have you ever felt completely drawn to a story to the point that you imagine being there with the characters, especially the protagonist? Anita Kushwaha’s award-winning novel Side by Side is one such story that draws you from page to page with...

Reviewed by Menaka Raman-Wilms

Different Beasts is a book that is both captivating and memorable. It’s a collection of short stories that feature a wide variety of different characters in unique circumstances. Running throughout the book is the common theme of beasts: s...