Eye Lake

Eye Lake

by TristanHughes (Author)

Synopsis

Welcome to Crooked River. Population 2851 and falling.

Eli has lived in Crooked River his whole life, and it was his grandfather, Clarence, who put the place on the map -- quite literally, because it was Clarence who built the hotel around which the town later grew. Eli knows better than anyone, though, that nothing lasts forever: towns shrink, buildings fall into disrepair; people die or move on -- or sometimes, just plain disappear. Even rivers can be dammed, land reclaimed, and lakes created . . . though Eli also knows that rivers are like dogs, and will always -- eventually -- find their way back home.

The same can't be said for the people in Eli's life. His father, uncle and grandmother are dead; he didn't know his mother, and his grandfather Clarence walked to the river one day and never returned. Eli's childhood friend, George, also went missing, back when they were kids, and has never been seen or heard of since.

Eli has spent years wondering about both Clarence and George. Now the river, its course diverted years previously to make way for a mine, is -- true to form -- returning 'home' and Eye Lake is receeding day by day. As the waters retreat, past secrets and mysteries are brought to light, and it seems as though Eli might finally learn what happened to his grandfather and best friend. Then a young boy goes missing, and Eli is suddenly brought back to the present . . .

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More Information

Format: Paperback
Pages: 256
Publisher: Picador
Published: 17 Jun 2011

ISBN 10: 0330533746
ISBN 13: 9780330533744

Media Reviews
' Eye Lake is a sturdy and ... compelling novel, ripe with luminous prose and well-sustained metaphor, a fine investigation of isolation, work, family, the Canadian pioneer spirit and the doomed communities that linger in opportunity's wake.' - National Post 'Hughes has done an exquisite job plotting Eye Lake , but this is only a small part of the novel's pleasures ...[A] deeply satisfying read.' - Quill and Quire 'Rarely has there been a more endearing storyteller ... [Hughes's]story of a small town growing and declining on the whims of a few outsize personalities also is the story of families, boom to bust.' - Minneapolis Star Tribune 'Fittingly for 2012, folded within the seemingly simple narratives of Hughes' novel, is a lovely rumination on what it means for the world to end, however small that world may be.' - THIS magazine'Hughes is a very good writer, if good writing has to do with precision, eloquence, beauty and passionately held belief.' -- Times Literary Supplement (on Revenant )'A provocative exploration of the difficulty of leaving childhood behind, and about how being treated like an outsider all your life will leave you with a tragic sense of entitlement.' -- The Walrus (on Revenant )
Author Bio
Tristan Hughes was born in Atikokan, Canada and brought up around Llangoed, Ynys Mon where he currently lives.