New Releases by Richard B. Wright

From the acclaimed writer of the beloved Clara Callan comes a memorable new novel about first loves, love-after-love, and the end of things, set during summer in Quebec City. James Hillyer, a retired university professor whose life was evocatively described in Wright''s novel October, is now barely existing after the death of his beloved daughter in her forties. On a whim, he tries to locate the woman he fell in love with so many years ago on a summer trip to Quebec and through the magic of the Internet he is able to find her. But Odette’s present existence seems to be haunted by ghosts from her own past, in particular, the tough ex-con Raoul, with his long-standing grievances and the beginnings of dementia. The collision of past and present leads to violence nobody could have predicted and alters the lives of James and Odette forever. Nightfall skillfully captures the way in which our past is ever-present in our minds as we grow older, casting its spell of lost loves and the innocent joys of youth over the realities of aging and death. The novel is skillfully grounded in observation, propelled by unforgettable characters, and filled with wisdom about young love and old love. Drawing on the author’s profound understanding of the intimate bonds between men and women, Nightfall is classic Richard B. Wright.

Complete with new beginnings and the promise of satisfying endings, The Look Book sampler offers the best in fiction from across the Simon & Schuster Canada Spring 2016 list. This array of debut authors and perennial favourites will allow you to step back in time with our historical fiction, time travel with our fantasy writers, fall in love with our inspirational romance, marvel at our literary stylists, and be enthralled by our dark thrillers. If you would like to learn more about any of our authors or the titles featured, please visit us at SimonandSchuster.ca, follow us on Twitter at @simonschusterCA, or like us at Facebook.com/SimonandSchusterCanada. With chapter excerpts from the following Spring 2016 new releases: Dark Territory, by Susan Philpott He Will Be My Ruin, by K.A. Tucker Owl and the City of Angels, by Kristi Charish Black Apple, by Joan Crate Still Mine, by Amy Stuart Glory Over Everything, by Kathleen Grissom The Rivals of Versailles, by Sally Christie Kay’s Lucky Coin Variety, by Ann Y.K. Choi Nightfall, by Richard B. Wright Mannheim Rex, by Rob Pobi Umbrella Man, by Peggy Blair I’m Thinking of Ending Things, by Iain Reid

A portrait of the writing life and memoir that reads like a novel.

In a quiet manor house in Oxfordshire, an ailing housekeeper by the name of Aerlene Ward feels the time has come to confess the great secret that has shaped her life-she is the illegitimate daughter of William Shakespeare, England''s most famous playwright. With a brilliant eye and ear for this rich period of history, Richard B. Wright brings to life the teeming streets of Elizabethan London and the seasonal rhythms of rural life in Oliver Cromwell''s England as he interweaves the intriguing stories of the lovely Elizabeth, who allows herself to be seduced by a struggling young writer from Stratford, and her plain but clever daughter, who must live with the consequences. As their lives unfold, secrets are revealed, love is found and lost, and futures are forever changed. Readers will be fascinated by glimpses of the young Will as an actor with the Queen''s Men and, fifteen years later, as a world-weary but increasingly wealthy playwright -- who may have had an unexpected daughter. An engaging blend of invention and historical detail, and echoing the unmistakable style of the Bard himself, MR. SHAKESPEARE''S BASTARD confirms Wright as one of our finest storytellers. This unforgettable novel will delight the senses and touch the heart.

Als een 74-jarige man een oude zieke bekende vergezelt op zijn laatste tocht naar Zwitserland, komen herinneringen op aan 1944 en de Invasie, toen zij beiden verliefd waren op hetzelfde meisje.

In a small town in Canada, Clara Callan reluctantly takes leave of her sister, Nora, who is bound for New York. It''s a time when the growing threat of fascism in Europe is a constant worry, and people escape from reality through radio and the movies. Meanwhile, the two sisters -- vastly different in personality, yet inextricably linked by a shared past -- try to find their places within the complex web of social expectations for young women in the 1930s. While Nora embarks on a glamorous career as a radio-soap opera star, Clara, a strong and independent-minded woman, struggles to observe the traditional boundaries of a small and tight-knit community without relinquishing her dreams of love, freedom, and adventure. However, things aren''t as simple as they appear -- Nora''s letters eventually reveal life in the big city is less exotic than it seems, and the tranquil solitude of Clara''s life is shattered by a series of unforeseeable events. These twists of fate require all of Clara''s courage and strength, and finally put the seemingly unbreakable bond between the sisters to the test.

Published to rave reviews, with weeks on the bestseller lists and a place as a Globe and Mail Book of the Year, October is an extraordinary meditation on mortality and memory, from Governor General’s Award–winning author Richard B. Wright. Visiting his gravely ill daughter, James Hillyer encounters by chance Gabriel Fontaine, whom he met as a boy while on holiday in Gaspé. At the time, the boys had competed for the love of a French-Canadian girl from the village. Now, over six decades later and faced with the terrible possibility of outliving his own daughter, James is asked by Gabriel to accompany him on a final, unthinkable journey. With superb storytelling, spare writing and characters who feel as real and familiar as old friends, Richard B. Wright weaves a haunting classic of a man searching for answers in the autumn of his life.

Als de vrouwelijke collega met wie hij een korte affaire heeft gehad, vermoord wordt, wordt een getrouwde uitgeverijredacteur in grote verlegenheid gebracht.

A young woman is brutally murdered at a seaside town in Devon. She had been in the car with her older, married lover, Fielding. She stepped outside just for a minute and now she is dead, victim of a mindless attack, and Fielding must pick up the pieces. How can he face everyone, his wife and family, his lover''s family, the media....

With the publication of Clara Callan and its sweep of the awards and bestseller lists, Richard B. Wright has become a household name. But as many fiction lovers are just now discovering, Wright has been dazzling critics, writers, and his loyal audience for years, with stories that grab hold and don''t let go. Final Things is one such book, a story as shockingly timely now as it was when it was first published in 1980. Jonathan Farris, 12, leaves his father''s apartment one Saturday afternoon and never returns. The next day police discover that Jonathan was brutally raped and murdered, his trip to the convenience store cut short by an unknown killer. Charlie, Jonathan''s father, already on a down-ward slide from a nasty divorce, a stalled writing career, and a creeping alcohol addiction, struggles to cope with the most devastating loss a parent can ever endure. When an anonymous phone call offers him information about his son''s killer, Charlie is galvanized into action, channeling his grief, his guilt, and his rage into one of the most powerful confrontations since James Dickey''s Deliverance.

Jan Harper, 36, lives in the basement of her mother''s suburban home. A high-school English teacher, Jan worries that she''s on the brink of wear-ing heavy walking shoes and retreating farther into her single, somewhat solitary existence. She''s just come off a failed affair with a married man, discovering she wasn''t the first mistress in his life. She''s slightly jealous of her friend Max, who''s always been "a little too flighty," according to Jan''s mother. And the only prospect for a relationship comes colored in the dull gray form of Bruce, a fellow teacher. So it''s a complete surprise to Jan when a darkly handsome man insists on stepping into her tidy suburban world. James is younger, unemployed, has a prison record and a passion for his Trans-Am-- complete with fuzzy dice. He also has a passion for Jan, although Jan has seri-ous doubts about a future with him. There''s something about James that both charms and repels her--an unpredictability that''s about to shatter both of their lives. Once again, Richard B. Wright has shown that he is the master of brilliantly realized characters and evocative story-telling that shines in the details. This is a novel of collision, Jan from her sterile middle-class world and James from his seedy shadow one, both searching for love and wholeness. Richard B. Wright fans will not be disappointed.

Farthing''s Fortunes is a rollicking,picaresque tale that follows the fortunes of Bill Farthing as he travelsthroughout North America at the turn of the 20th century.Seduced at 15 by his amorous guardian, Mrs. Fletcher, and fleeing ruralCanada for a life of adventure, Farthing joins up with an irrepressiblecompanion, Cass Findlater, perhaps one of the last great Americanentrepreneurs. Farthing''s journey is also a quest, a devoted search for the love ofhis life--a red-headed music hall beauty, the incomparable Sally Butters.It is a search that takes him to the bustling, immigrant-filled New YorkCity of the 1890s; to the Klondike Gold Rush; to Europe, where he runsinto the "war to end all wars"; and to the rail yards and hobojungles of the Great Depression. Whether they are riding in a Pierce-Arrowor on a box car, Farthing and Findlater are always in the company of anassortment of characters: bootleggers and poets, aristocrats and tramps,confidence men and chorus girls. Wright casts a splendidly irreverent eye on a colourful period andcreates a coming-of-age tale that is a triumph of comic imagination.

Een rustige lerares van in de dertig maakt na de dood van haar vader tussen 1935 en 1938 een ontwikkeling door die ze zelf nooit verwacht heeft.

It is one of those rare novels that readers describe as having "changed my life." First published in the early 1970s, The Weekend Man immediately established Richard B. Wright as a fresh and powerful new voice in North American fiction. Now, with his 1995 double nomination for the Giller Prize and the Governor General''s Award for The Age of Longing, Richard B. Wright continues to connect strongly with his audience. A textbook publishing salesman whose life seems poised continually on the verge of free-fall, 30-year-old Wes Wakeham waffles between fighting the sad nostalgia of his past and the certain failure of his future. Shot through with the ironies of urban life, love and lust. The Weekend Man is as relevant in the ''90s as it was in the ''70s.

Ten year old Andrew''s passion for adventure embroils him in the mystery of the John A. Macdonald look-alikes, and turns a little Ontario town upside-down.

Par un auteur canadien-anglais, une oeuvre romanesque remarquable, selon Réginald Martel. Avec virulence et discrétion, c''est-à-dire avec un humour très anglo-saxon, l''auteur décrit l''ennui et la vie monotone des habitants de banlieue, dans une ville nord-américaine, en l''occurence Toronto. Le héros a pour ainsi dire renoncé à manifester sa personnalité, afin de ne pas déranger un semblant d''harmonie dans les gris, de ne pas troubler un petit monde presque dénué d''imagination et de fantaisie. Pourtant, il arrive que la monstruosité fasse irruption dans les vies les plus banales et qu''il faille retoucher le bilan d''une tranquille faillite.