Crazy Sorrow

Crazy Sorrow is a story about prejudice and the tragic consequences of cowardice, a cautionary tale about how a moment of weakness and indecision can lead to a lifetime of misery. Crazy Sorrow is a psychological mystery and a love story, a character study revealing the human need to move beyond "the twisted reach of crazy sorrow". Reminiscent of the most powerful Southern writing, Bowes characters are eccentric, colourful outcasts populating a powerful period in our imaginations — the late 1950s and early '60s. The setting is Nova Scotia's Annapolis Valley — a sleepy town nestled among the hawthorns and flowering black locusts, where "nothing much happens and no one much matters". Beyond the genial warmth and beauty, however, beyond the orchards and meadows and rugged, treeless coastline, is a complex society in which terrible things are happening.

Fast-paced and evocative, Crazy Sorrow is a stunning premiere novel.