10 Canadian Fiction Favorites

a list by Lesley, bookworm and blogger at A Life in Books

Although I now live in the Southern United States, I'm originally from Canada, and so my personal library is peppered with books by Canadian authors. The list below is a rather random sampling of some of my favorites. Some of these titles will be familiar to most, others are little known... but all are great books from the canon of Canadian literature.

onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/10_Canadian_Fiction_Favorites/The_Handmaids_Tale');" onMouseOver="window.status='http://amazon.com/dp/038549081X'; return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;">	onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/10_Canadian_Fiction_Favorites/The_Handmaids_Tale');" onMouseOver="window.status='http://amazon.com/dp/038549081X'; return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;">The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood A chilling dystopian novel that stands as one of Atwood’s best among her many outstanding works. In a future, post-war America, the rights of women, including reproduction, are dictated by the government. onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/10_Canadian_Fiction_Favorites/The_Handmaids_Tale');" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;"> onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/10_Canadian_Fiction_Favorites/The_Handmaids_Tale');" onMouseOver="window.status='http://amazon.com/dp/038549081X'; return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;"> 320 page paperback \|$10.17 \|546 reviews This book also appears on: 10 Books That'll Make You Wish Your Flight Would Never End Five Perfect Book Covers


onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/10_Canadian_Fiction_Favorites/Not_Wanted_on_the_Voyage');" onMouseOver="window.status='http://amazon.com/dp/0143055070'; return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;">	onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/10_Canadian_Fiction_Favorites/Not_Wanted_on_the_Voyage');" onMouseOver="window.status='http://amazon.com/dp/0143055070'; return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;">Not Wanted on the Voyage by Timothy Findley A surreal retelling of the story of Noah and the Ark that's both provocative and subversive. onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/10_Canadian_Fiction_Favorites/Not_Wanted_on_the_Voyage');" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;"> onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/10_Canadian_Fiction_Favorites/Not_Wanted_on_the_Voyage');" onMouseOver="window.status='http://amazon.com/dp/0143055070'; return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;"> 352 pages, used, starting at $12.00 \|20 reviews


onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/10_Canadian_Fiction_Favorites/The_Colony_of_Unrequited_Dreams');" onMouseOver="window.status='http://amazon.com/dp/0385495439'; return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;">	onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/10_Canadian_Fiction_Favorites/The_Colony_of_Unrequited_Dreams');" onMouseOver="window.status='http://amazon.com/dp/0385495439'; return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;">The Colony of Unrequited Dreams by Wayne Johnston A work of historical fiction that focuses on the early life of Joey Smallwood, the man who brought Newfoundland into the Canadian fold, and his romance with Sheila, a woman haunted by her past. onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/10_Canadian_Fiction_Favorites/The_Colony_of_Unrequited_Dreams');" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;"> onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/10_Canadian_Fiction_Favorites/The_Colony_of_Unrequited_Dreams');" onMouseOver="window.status='http://amazon.com/dp/0385495439'; return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;"> 592 page paperback \|$10.85 \|39 reviews


onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/10_Canadian_Fiction_Favorites/Fall_On_Your_Knees');" onMouseOver="window.status='http://amazon.com/dp/0743237188'; return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;">	onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/10_Canadian_Fiction_Favorites/Fall_On_Your_Knees');" onMouseOver="window.status='http://amazon.com/dp/0743237188'; return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;">Fall On Your Knees by Ann-Marie MacDonald The hard, gritty life of the Cape Breton coal mines sets the tone for this novel, which grabs the reader from the first page and takes them on a bruising, enthralling story that holds secrets and revelations from beginning to end. onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/10_Canadian_Fiction_Favorites/Fall_On_Your_Knees');" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;"> onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/10_Canadian_Fiction_Favorites/Fall_On_Your_Knees');" onMouseOver="window.status='http://amazon.com/dp/0743237188'; return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;"> 512 page paperback \|$11.68 \|566 reviews This book also appears on Oprah's Book Club


onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/10_Canadian_Fiction_Favorites/Burden_of_Desire');" onMouseOver="window.status='http://amazon.com/dp/015600609X'; return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;">	onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/10_Canadian_Fiction_Favorites/Burden_of_Desire');" onMouseOver="window.status='http://amazon.com/dp/015600609X'; return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;">Burden of Desire by Robert MacNeil A supremely engrossing historical novel that takes place during the time of the Halifax Explosion, one of the most devastating events in Canadian history. onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/10_Canadian_Fiction_Favorites/Burden_of_Desire');" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;"> onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/10_Canadian_Fiction_Favorites/Burden_of_Desire');" onMouseOver="window.status='http://amazon.com/dp/015600609X'; return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;"> 466 page paperback \|$10.88 \|12 reviews


onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/10_Canadian_Fiction_Favorites/Anne_of_Green_Gables');" onMouseOver="window.status='http://amazon.com/dp/0553153277'; return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;">	onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/10_Canadian_Fiction_Favorites/Anne_of_Green_Gables');" onMouseOver="window.status='http://amazon.com/dp/0553153277'; return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;">Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery A perennial favorite of many, this classic story introduces us to Anne, the red-haired orphan with the spirited personality and endearing imagination. onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/10_Canadian_Fiction_Favorites/Anne_of_Green_Gables');" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;"> onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/10_Canadian_Fiction_Favorites/Anne_of_Green_Gables');" onMouseOver="window.status='http://amazon.com/dp/0553153277'; return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;"> 320 page paperback \|$5.99 \|310 reviews


onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/10_Canadian_Fiction_Favorites/Open_Secrets_Stories');" onMouseOver="window.status='http://amazon.com/dp/0679755624'; return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;">	onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/10_Canadian_Fiction_Favorites/Open_Secrets_Stories');" onMouseOver="window.status='http://amazon.com/dp/0679755624'; return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;">Open Secrets: Stories by Alice Munro The stories feature women harboring secrets, their lives shadowed by deceptions, both real and imagined. Munro effortlessly mixes reality with illusion, sometimes not letting the reader know which is which. onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/10_Canadian_Fiction_Favorites/Open_Secrets_Stories');" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;"> onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/10_Canadian_Fiction_Favorites/Open_Secrets_Stories');" onMouseOver="window.status='http://amazon.com/dp/0679755624'; return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;"> 294 page paperback \|$10.17 \|9 reviews


onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/10_Canadian_Fiction_Favorites/The_Bird_Artist');" onMouseOver="window.status='http://amazon.com/dp/0312130279'; return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;">	onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/10_Canadian_Fiction_Favorites/The_Bird_Artist');" onMouseOver="window.status='http://amazon.com/dp/0312130279'; return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;">The Bird Artist by Howard Norman A cast of eccentric characters accentuates this “Newfoundland Gothic” story of betrayal, murder, love lost, and found. onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/10_Canadian_Fiction_Favorites/The_Bird_Artist');" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;"> onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/10_Canadian_Fiction_Favorites/The_Bird_Artist');" onMouseOver="window.status='http://amazon.com/dp/0312130279'; return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;"> 289 page paperback \|$10.20 \|40 reviews


onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/10_Canadian_Fiction_Favorites/As_for_Me_and_My_House');" onMouseOver="window.status='http://amazon.com/dp/0771099975'; return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;">	onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/10_Canadian_Fiction_Favorites/As_for_Me_and_My_House');" onMouseOver="window.status='http://amazon.com/dp/0771099975'; return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;">As for Me and My House by Sinclair Ross, Robert Kroetsch An understated novel that takes place in a small, Depression-era Prairie town, examining the dynamics within a marriage amid the constraints of small-town life. onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/10_Canadian_Fiction_Favorites/As_for_Me_and_My_House');" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;"> onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/10_Canadian_Fiction_Favorites/As_for_Me_and_My_House');" onMouseOver="window.status='http://amazon.com/dp/0771099975'; return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;"> 224 pages \|$7.95 \|3 reviews


onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/10_Canadian_Fiction_Favorites/Changing_Heaven');" onMouseOver="window.status='http://amazon.com/dp/087923895X'; return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;">	onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/10_Canadian_Fiction_Favorites/Changing_Heaven');" onMouseOver="window.status='http://amazon.com/dp/087923895X'; return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;">Changing Heaven by Jane Urquhart This unusual novel incorporates Emily Bronte and her novel "Wuthering Heights" into the storyline, which includes elements of magical realism with modern-day characters and a romantic plot. onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/10_Canadian_Fiction_Favorites/Changing_Heaven');" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;"> onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/to_amazon/10_Canadian_Fiction_Favorites/Changing_Heaven');" onMouseOver="window.status='http://amazon.com/dp/087923895X'; return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''; return true;"> 272 page hardcover \|$22.95 \|6 reviews

Know any books we should add to the list above? .