Will Alexander is on a journey of the heart and soul, searching for something elusive, something missing from his life—something obscured by the chaotic circumstances of his life and the mists of uncertainty. Blind to obvious truths, he is unable to see clearly what that elusive something is or where it may be found. He is on a perilous odyssey, cast toward an unknown destiny at the mercy of fate and chance. Having dropped out of university, he is an unlikely member of the Dark Angels, an outlaw motorcycle club in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Contending with violence in the streets and at home, and in conflict with the law, he is driven ultimately to a decision, an inflection point, that will define the remainder of his life. Twenty years later, the nature and direction of his journey begin to come into sharper resolution. He comes to see what he must do to find what has been missing over most of his lifetime—to fill the void in his life and finally give it a completeness he did not fully comprehend it lacked. This takes him from Nova Scotia to the other side of the world. An expansive, spellbinding tale of generational mythology, the mysterious dance of fate and chance, and the circumstances and decisions that shape us, The Eyes of Bats concludes the multi-generational family saga begun by the author in his novel All the Stars in the Sky. These two novels give voice to themes of tragedy, struggle, hope, redemption, and triumph.
It is 1950 in the seaport town of Yarmouth, Nova Scotia. Celeste Alexander, the daughter of a poor lobster poacher, dreams of something more than the life she leads cleaning the houses of her wealthy neighbours. When opportunity comes knocking, she leaps at the chance to take a waitressing job in the nearby town of Kentville, forever changing the arc of her life. Soon after arriving in Kentville to work at Sadie’s Restaurant, she meets William Lockhart. An aspiring architect and admirer of Shakespeare, William sweeps her off her feet, and their romance blooms with first-love quickness and intensity. Though they have only been seeing each other for a few months, the lovers envision a future together. But Celeste’s bright dreams of a happy life with William are cast under an ominous cloud when he joins the Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry, a regiment of the Canadian army, hoping that a short stint in the military will help him further his career in the future. Celeste’s worst fears are realized when William is sent off to fight in the Korean War, and she learns that she is pregnant with his child. Set against the backdrop of small-town Canada and the Korean War, this sweeping family saga gives voice with compelling sensitivity and grace to the cascading effects of loss and hardship across generations—and how hope, love, and the enduring power of family bonds can lift people up in the lowest moments of their lives.
Will Alexander is on a journey of the heart and soul, searching for something elusive, something missing from his life—something obscured by the chaotic circumstances of his life and the mists of uncertainty. Blind to obvious truths, he is unable to see clearly what that elusive something is or where it may be found. He is on a perilous odyssey, cast toward an unknown destiny at the mercy of fate and chance. Having dropped out of university, he is an unlikely member of the Dark Angels, an outlaw motorcycle club in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Contending with violence in the streets and at home, and in conflict with the law, he is driven ultimately to a decision, an inflection point, that will define the remainder of his life. Twenty years later, the nature and direction of his journey begin to come into sharper resolution. He comes to see what he must do to find what has been missing over most of his lifetime—to fill the void in his life and finally give it a completeness he did not fully comprehend it lacked. This takes him from Nova Scotia to the other side of the world. An expansive, spellbinding tale of generational mythology, the mysterious dance of fate and chance, and the circumstances and decisions that shape us, The Eyes of Bats concludes the multi-generational family saga begun by the author in his novel All the Stars in the Sky. These two novels give voice to themes of tragedy, struggle, hope, redemption, and triumph.
It is 1950 in the seaport town of Yarmouth, Nova Scotia. Celeste Alexander, the daughter of a poor lobster poacher, dreams of something more than the life she leads cleaning the houses of her wealthy neighbours. When opportunity comes knocking, she leaps at the chance to take a waitressing job in the nearby town of Kentville, forever changing the arc of her life. Soon after arriving in Kentville to work at Sadie’s Restaurant, she meets William Lockhart. An aspiring architect and admirer of Shakespeare, William sweeps her off her feet, and their romance blooms with first-love quickness and intensity. Though they have only been seeing each other for a few months, the lovers envision a future together. But Celeste’s bright dreams of a happy life with William are cast under an ominous cloud when he joins the Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry, a regiment of the Canadian army, hoping that a short stint in the military will help him further his career in the future. Celeste’s worst fears are realized when William is sent off to fight in the Korean War, and she learns that she is pregnant with his child. Set against the backdrop of small-town Canada and the Korean War, this sweeping family saga gives voice with compelling sensitivity and grace to the cascading effects of loss and hardship across generations—and how hope, love, and the enduring power of family bonds can lift people up in the lowest moments of their lives.
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