Eight years after publishing a well-received book of short stories, Massachusetts-born, Newfoundland-based writer Libby Creelman has written a remarkably self-assured first novel with characters that must surely exist somewhere outside of its deftly written pages.
The situation here is emotionally fraught: Benny Martin is dying of cancer, leaving Heather Welbourne, a social worker, bereft and barely functioning. Heather is Benny’s lover of six years, which gives her mourning a problematic status: she must avoid Benny’s wife in the hospital corridor and will not be included in funeral arrangements. Unbeknownst to him, Heather is also pregnant with Benny’s child. Read more…