Synopses & Reviews
Set in Victoria, B.C., in 1881, Innocent Cities brilliantly weaves together the lives and lies of an entire community. Logan Sumner is a young widower and architect who dreams of transforming the tiny port city of Victoria into one of the great cities of the world. When he’s not chiseling a record of his life onto his tombstone, Sumner awkwardly courts the daughter of James Horncastle, an inveterate gambler and the swaggering proprietor of The Great Blue Heron Hotel. Their lives – and those of the bizarre group of guests who frequent the hotel – are changed forever when a mysterious widow from Australia arrives in Victoria with startling revelations from her past. Rich with intrigue, warm humour, and a memorable cast of characters, Innocent Cities is a compelling tale from one of Canada’s finest writers.
About the Author
Jack Hodgins was born in 1938 in the Comox Valley, on Vancouver Island. After attending the University of British Columbia he taught high school English in Nanaimo, before accepting teaching positions at a number of Canadian universities. He is now a member of the faculty at the University of Victoria, the city where he and his family live.
His literary career has been spectacular. His first book, a collection of stories entitled Spit Delaney’s Island, was nominated for the 1976 Governor General’s Award, and “did for the people of Vancouver Island what…William Faulkner [did] for the American south.” (The Montreal Gazette). The Vancouver Province called it “superb.”
His first novel, The Invention of the World, published a year later, attracted many admiring reviews (“an astounding achievement”, Quill & Quire; “the major work of Canadian magic realism,” Canadian Fiction Magazine), and won the Gibson Literary Award as the best first novel of the year. His second novel, The Resurrection of Joseph Bourne (1979), received still more critical praise and won the Governor General’s Award.
Since then Jack Hodgins has produced an admired collection of short stories, The Barclay Family Theatre (1981), and a third novel, The Honorary Patron (1987), as well as a book for children, Left Behind in Squabble Bay (1988). He has been awarded the Canada-Australia Literature Prize, and has read from his work in countries as distant as Japan and Austria.