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The Paperboy's Winter

Callum Taylor has reached a critical point in his life. Since the death of his beloved father, he has found himself adrift, unable to fill his days with any purpose or meaning. But one afternoon, while visiting his childhood home, a fishing village along the banks of the Fraser River, he has a startling encounter with a figure from his past. The shock of this event triggers a series of vivid memories from the magical winter of his 10th year when, as a paperboy, he came into contact with an array of fascinating characters: an elderly woman whose eyes he never saw; a school principal obsessed with Lester B. Pearson; a Chinese family with shadowy secrets.

Most extraordinary of all was the man Callum now encounters 20 years later, a man who brings all these memories flooding back. Ezra Hemsworth was a true eccentric, a solitary fisherman whose actions were eerily unforgettable. As the story of that haunting winter unfolds, we see through Callum's eyes a boy experiencing the adult world for the first time. It's a moment, and a journey, that Tim Bowling captures with characteristic grace and lyricism.

A rare blend of tragedy and comedy, The Paperboy's Winter explores not only what it means to shed the protective layers of childhood, but also what it means to witness the disappearance of a culture. Richly evocative of the landscape of the West Coast and of a time in Canadian history when nation-building was a matter of hope and enthusiasm, this moving and elegiac story lovingly depicts an era that is rapidly fading.

  • Format
  • paperback
  • Pages
  • 278
  • Language
  • english
  • ISBN
  • 978-0-14-301228-3
  • EAN
  • 9780143012283
  • Genres
  • canada
  • Release date
  • 2003