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The Book of Gronsky

by Bill Engleson

A novelist’s second act, on and off the page

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AlbakiReads Editorial

A novelist’s second act, on and off the page

Gilbert Gronsky’s attempt to promote his first book leads from a local library launch to a midwinter writers’ festival on Ostrich Island. Meanwhile, he is working on a novel-memoir built around mysteries in and around 1950s and early-1960s Nanaimo, including events associated with Brother XII. The description sets Gronsky’s literary ambitions against a wider backdrop of war and climate disaster, while also bringing in the contrasting example of activist poet Tree Leaf. The book connects the practical business of self-promotion with the challenge of turning local history and mysteries into a second manuscript.

Good fit for readers who enjoy

  • Readers interested in fiction set on Vancouver Island and in Nanaimo’s past.
  • Readers drawn to stories about authorship, book promotion, and the work of writing a second book.
  • Readers interested in mysteries connected to Brother XII and mid-century British Columbia.

Themes

Authorship and self-promotionLocal history and mysteryWar and climate disasterActivism and artistic responsibility

Based on publisher information and book metadata.

Book overview

Gilbert Gronsky is at it again. The neophyte author of The Life of Gronsky has returned to the world of Danny Hawkins, a Vancouver Island-based P.I. whose midcentury sleuthing proves far more palatable than the grind of post-pandemic self-promotion. Unfortunately, Gronsky feels obliged to market his first book - a task that takes him from a Saturday afternoon launch at the local library to a midwinter writers' festival on Ostrich Island.

As the larger world devolves into war and climate disaster, attending such an event feels a bit like putting his head in the sand, but Gronsky isn't fated to engage in the activist shenanigans of younger authors like the doggedly dedicated poet, Tree Leaf. He's got a published book to promote and a new book to write - a novel/memoir about a multitude of mysteries in and around Nanaimo, BC in the 50s and early 60s including goings-on connected to that prodigious mystic/charlatan, Brother Xll.

Will Gronsky finish his second manuscript, or is he destined to be a one-book wonder? And, worryingly, is that even a thing?
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