A poignant novel imbued with music from the Governor General's Award — shortlisted author of Like This and Twenty-Six that follows two social outcasts as they navigate through their traumatic pasts.

The worst moment of Sam's life was captured on video and shared across the Internet for all to gawk at. This is something she has in common with Robot, who just wants to move past the mistakes he's made, if only his small town will let him. When the two meet in a high school music class, they start to find their way to each other. Music might offer a way not only forward, but forward together, if Sam and Robot can overcome the echoes of the moments that made them infamous.

The past reverberates in ways we don't expect, in this new novel by Giller Prize — shortlisted author Leo McKay, Jr. From family secrets and old relationships that resurface, to the tape loops that endlessly replay private moments of trauma and despair, What Comes Echoing Back travels back and forth in time to get to what's true, with humour, humanity, and the healing power of music. (From Vagrant Press)

What Comes Echoing Back was on the longlist for Canada Reads 2024.

Leo McKay, Jr. is a writer and a high school teacher. His novel Twenty-Six won the Dartmouth Book Award and was chosen for the One Book Nova Scotia event. His debut collection of stories, Like This, also won the Dartmouth Book Award and was a finalist for the Giller Prize.