A Guy Just Passing Through by Matthew Hughes
Reviewed by Robert Runté As a critic, I’m often interested in the lives of writers. Understanding how writers' backgrounds shaped their worldview and inspired their characters can deepen one’s enjoyment of their work. Matthew Hughes is a prolific Canadian SF&F, crime, and historical author whose work I greatly enjoy. I was therefore inordinately happy when he made his personal memoir, A Guy Just Passing Through , available to the public. Much of the book focuses on his early
Eyes Have Seen by Fred Anderson
Reviewed by Timothy Niedermann The great strength of this memoir by Fred Anderson is that it shows the humanity behind the struggles he has experienced, both as a black person in the American Deep South and as an illegal immigrant in Montreal. Anderson was born in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, in 1947 and grew up in conditions that are barely imaginable to most Canadians today: abusive segregation, pervasive racial injustice, an ever-present fear of violence, even death, at the h
Finding Flora by Elinor Florence
Reviewed by Wendy Hawkin Destined to become a Canadian literary classic, Finding Flora chronicles the bittersweet journey of twenty-four-year-old, red-haired, Scottish immigrant, Flora Craigie. Readers can’t help but root for this young, feisty hero whose first act of rebellion is to leap into the darkness from a moving train to escape her new, sick, predatory husband. Hoodwinked by Hector Mackle, an unscrupulous land agent with the CPR, Flora marries in Scotland, only to di
Old Romantics by Maggie Armstrong
Reviewed by Timothy Niedermann While some of the stories in this first short-story collection by Irish writer Maggie Armstrong are written in the first person, others in the third person, it soon becomes apparent that the stories are related and are moving forward in time. As such, Old Romantics reads much like a novel. The main character in each story is a woman named Margaret who is bouncing from one unsatisfactory love affair to another. The men are abusive or unreliable,
ORB February 2026 Issue
After a well-deserved winter break, we are back with our Valentine issue, which ironically does not feature even a wisp of romance. Not to worry, the issue does line up some excellent insights into six books of recent Canadian fiction by Natalie Southworth, Ann Cavlovic, Beverley McLachlin, Finnian Burnett, Drew Hayden Taylor and Su Chang, all good reading to help you wind down after the wine, chocolates and flowers. We hope you enjoy this first issue of 2026.
There’s Always More to Say by Natalie Southworth
Reviewed by Timothy Niedermann In this, author Natalie Southworth’s first short-story collection, three stories frame the other six: the first, “There’s Always More to Say,” the fifth, “The Bottom Line,” and the ninth and last, “Inheritance.” Each is narrated by Cora, the younger of two daughters in a family of four. The stories take place at different times during the girls’ lives—pre-teen, teen, and adult—as the family tries to cope with the mother’s mental issues and their
Count On Me by Ann Cavlovic
Reviewed by Wayne Ng Ann Cavlovic’s debut novel Count On Me is about caregiving, but more pointedly, it is about family power—who gets access, who controls the narrative, and who bears the emotional cost when care becomes contested terrain. Set in Ottawa, the book follows Zoe as she cares first for her young daughter, then for her dying father, and finally for her mother, Vera, whose later years are shaped by haunting memories, isolation, manipulation, and what the book name
Proof by Beverley McLachlin
Reviewed by Gail M. Murray Author Beverly McLachlin, former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada, continues to fight for justice in her latest novel Proof . Jilly Truitt is a rising young attorney in McLachlin’s bold debut novel , Full Disclosure , a top criminal defence lawyer embroiled in a high stakes murder trial in Denial . In Proof, Jilly is now a widow and new mother emerging from maternity leave on the insistence of crown prosecutor Cy Kenge—her one-time men
Redshirts Sometimes Survive by Finnian Burnett
Reviewed by Robert Runté Finnian Burnett is one of those writers who explodes on the scene apparently overnight. A prominent figure in the Canada Writes online community, Burnett is suddenly a keynote speaker at writers’ conferences, a writer in residence, a workshop leader, and well, seemingly everywhere. Of course, like every overnight success, there is, in fact, a long backstory as a writer, in this case, as a practitioner of, and advocate for, flash fiction. Having attend
Cold by Drew Hayden Taylor
Reviewed by Wendy Hawkin Cold is a brilliant example of Indigenous literary fiction. A powerful storyteller, award-winning playwright, columnist, filmmaker, and lecturer, Drew Hayden Taylor infuses this mythical mystery with nuggets of knowledge, literary allusions, and humour (black and otherwise). He began his career as a standup comic. A handful of diverse characters, unknown to each other, combine to track and kill an unbelievable enemy that touches all their lives in C
