All the Things We Leave Behind
CBC Books | CBC | Posted: March 10, 2017 3:32 PM | Last Updated: March 10, 2017
Riel Nason
It's 1977, and 17-year-old Violet is left behind by her parents to manage their busy roadside antique stand for the summer. Her restless older brother, Bliss, has disappeared, leaving home without warning, and her parents are off searching for clues. Violet is haunted by her brother's absence while trying to cope with her new responsibilities.
All the Things We Leave Behind is about remembrance and attachment, about what we collect and what we leave behind. In this highly affecting novel, Nason explores the permeability of memory and the sometimes confusing bonds of human emotion. (From Goose Lane Editions)
From the book
There's a little sign above the front door of our family business that says 'Charles J. Davis and Son Antiques' in a fancy old-fashioned script, but no one seems to notice it and everybody calls the place The Purple Barn. It's just as well. The son, my brother Bliss, is missing, and Charlie J. and my mother are off searching, trying to find the path he took. I was left here alone and in charge. I'm not sure that promoting me to running the whole show was among Dad's best ideas ever, but my parents already have enough on their minds that they don't need anything except business-as-usual updates from me. I'll head inside soon and see how it goes. My parents left yesterday.
From All the Things We Leave Behind by Riel Nason ©2016. Published by Goose Lane Editions.