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Fiction Reviews

Rebecca Geleyn: Lobster Men, Review of Some Hellish by Nicholas Herring

Posted on September 22, 2023

In Nicholas Herring’s first novel, his self-named protagonist, Herring, makes the following socioeconomic comment about lobsters: “You know, it wasn’t too long ago, you couldn’t get anybody to buy lobster. People used it as fertilizer in their gardens. Farmers would put it out on their rows. Eighty per cent of the market nowadays is cruise ships and casinos. The way I see it, lobster is just something people eat to distract them from the fact that they’re pissing their wages away” (260).

Sherry Coffey: Dauntless, Why I’m Here, Jill Frayne.

Posted on March 22, 2023
Who hasn’t wanted to be the fly on the wall of a therapist’s office? To hear the secrets people pay others to know? Jill Frayne’s Why I’m Here is a novel set in Whitehorse, Yukon, in 1995 and tells the story of Helen Cotillard, a counsellor who works at the only counselling agency in the Territory. Out of necessity, Helen “took all comers” in her practice. Her new client, Gale, is a scrappy and unhappy adolescent from Cobalt, Ontario, who is brought to therapy by her stepmother.

Chris Benjamin: MacLeod hits all his notes, Animal Person, Alexander MacLeod.

Posted on March 22, 2023
More than a decade ago, Alexander MacLeod showed unusual patience with his debut short story collection, Light Lifting. Patience in his delivery, care in his craft. Not a word out of place, some would say. The collection itself was the result of more than a decade of story writing and publishing one at a time in literary journals. Great short stories take time to master, and the bevy of jury recognitions his debut garnered was more indication MacLeod had put in the work. 
 

Pre-Order the Winter Issue Today!

Posted on December 9, 2022

 

The forthcoming Winter 2023 issue of The Fiddlehead is now available for pre-order! 

The issue will feature the winning story from The Fiddlehead's 2022 Fiction Contest, as well as work from talented writers such as Alice Zorn, Abu Bakr Sadiq, Kate Cayley, Brian Bartlett and many more.

Pre-orders will be in the mail by the end of January. To order your copy click the appropriate link below: 

Canadian Addresses

Pre-Order the Autumn Issue Now!

Posted on September 27, 2022

The forthcoming Autumn 2022 issue of The Fiddlehead is now available for pre-order! 

The issue will feature the winning essay from The Fiddlehead's 2022 Creative Nonfiction Contest, as well as work from award-winning authors such as Tolu Oloruntoba, Corinna Chong and many more.

Pre-orders will be in the mail by the end of October. Don't miss your chance to reserve a copy today! 

Canadian Addresses

Betwixt and Between: A Review by Ian Colford of Brian Thomas Isaac's "All the Quiet Places"

Posted on September 21, 2022

Betwixt and Between

All the Quiet Places, Brian Thomas Isaac. Brindle & Glass, 2021.

Brian Thomas Isaac’s first novel, All the Quiet Places, describes the early life of Eddie Toma. Eddie lives with his mother Grace and younger brother Lewis on the Okanagan Indian Reserve in Southern British Columbia’s rural interior.

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