Shades
of Persephone is a literary
mystery that will entertain those who delight in exotic settings, foreign
intrigue, and the unmasking of mysterious characters. Crete in 1980-81, more
specifically the old Venetian harbour
of Chania, provides the
background against which expat Canadian Steven Spire labours in pursuit of
David Montgomery, his enigmatic and elusive mentor, who stands accused in
absentia of treachery and betrayal. The plot has many seams through which
characters slide, another of them being the poet Emma Leigh, widow of Montgomery’s imposing
Cold War adversary, Heinrich Trüger. In that the setting is Crete,
the source of light is manifold, but significant inspiration for Steven Spire
comes from Magalee De Bellefeuille, his vision of Aphrodite and his muse. “Find
Persephone,” she directs him, “and you’ll find David Montgomery.” Her prompts motivate much of the narrative,
including that of the Cretan underground during the Nazi occupation, 1941- 45.
Shades of
Persephone presents a story of love
and sensuality, deception and war, spiritual quest and creative endeavour. The
resolution takes an unanticipated turn but comes as no surprise to the
discerning reader. Like Hamlet who must deal with his own character in
following the injunctions of his ghostly father, Steven Spire discovers much
about the city to which he has returned, but much more about himself and his
capacity for love.
Buy
links:
http://bwlpublishing.ca
Shades Of
Persephone/Amazon.ca/Reed Stirling/Books
https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/bookswelove
wwwbarnesandnoble.com>shades-of-persephone-reed-stirling
wwwgoodreads.com>Reed
Stirling
wwwchapters.indigo.ca>Reed
Stirling
Lighting The Lamp dramatizes the efforts of Terry Burke, a sympathetic, at times caustic
and critical, but ordinary old guy, to come to grips with who he is and what
his life has been. His struggle to accept retirement and to interpret the
iterations of the voice in his head spreads to concern over the mysterious
death of a wanderer. Terry’s obsession
to solve the mystery fuses directly with his personal history and leads him in
and out of fascinating, half-remembered mythological landscapes.
A restive Terry
is enjoined to revisit the haunts of his youth. Family dynamics of the present,
mirrored in Irish heritage of the past, come into play as do contrarian
opinions encountered among cronies, distant friends, and lost loves. Motivated by his muse to tell all, what he
seeks in addition to understanding is truthful voice and the purest possible
point of view. Aware that remembrance
of things past in not necessarily the remembrance of things as they were, this quixotic Everyman eventually reaches beyond
self, beyond mystery, and beyond theodicy to a philosophical embrace of cosmic
apotheosis. In Lighting
The Lamp, Montreal provides more than a background for
potential jihad-sponsored terrorism, or ghosts out of the past, or a romantic
trip down memory lane; the many-layered city takes on the function of a defined
and demanding character and declares in a voice Terry hears clearly: “Know me
and know yourself!
Buy links:
https://books2read.com/Lightin-the-Lamp
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I am working on a first draft of a work
tentatively titled Square Saint-Louis,
where the troubles in a contemporary family mirror those of the tragic poet
Émile Nelligan.
Brendan Young, a Calgary based businessman who travels more
than he’d like, admits to having absolutely no patience for the intransigence
of his music-obsessed, teenage son, Elliot. Ongoing domestic disputes have intensified over the years:
antipathy now verges on hostile rejection. Elinore, an equally conflicted wife
and mother, is threatening separation, a source of great anxiety for Brendan
who turns to alcohol for the understanding that eludes him on the home front. His sojourn in Montreal, a city not unfamiliar to him, leads him incident
by surreal incident, towards greater understanding through familiarity with the
tragic story of Émile Nelligan, who, as a
nineteen year-old, enjoyed a successful entry into the artistic community of Montreal in the last
decade of the 19th century, and then fell victim to madness. Reconnecting with Emery St James Montesquieu,
among old antagonists he encounters at a Yamaska College reunion, proves not
only enlightening for Young in its mirroring effect — the troubles in
his family are reflected dramatically in those of the young afflicted poet — but also redemptive. Elliot, the musician,
will have his apotheosis.
