The Word On The Street Blog

The Word On The Street has selected four great Canadian reads by authors appearing at the 2014 festival as part of our first summer book club.

We’ll be discussing the books each week throughout the summer, and on September 21st, everyone will have the chance to meet the authors in person at Queen’s Park Circle. ‘Tis the season for beach and park reading, so let’s get the conversation started!

If you aren’t an ‘official’ member of the book club, that shouldn’t stop you from joining in with your thoughts in the comments of the blog.

Click on the tabs above to check out the discussion questions our intrepid Book Club Leaders have come up with!

Man in the Shadows
Gordon Henderson

Book Club Leader: Lila Campbell

Lila is an editor in Toronto. She has been a book lover as far back as she can remember and is never without a novel in her purse. Always looking for new reading experiences, Lila is a memeber of three book clubs (some more active than others) and she is excited to add The Word On The Street Book Club to her repertoire.

Take it away, Lila!

Part 1 – Ch 1–9 (Part 1)
Part 2 – Ch 10–20 (Parts 2 & 3)
Part 3 – Ch 21–29 (Parts 3 & 4)
Part 4 – Ch 30–42 (Parts 5 & 6)

Part 1:

1. We’ve just been introduced to Conor O’Dea, the protagonist of Man in the Shadows. At this point, do you see him as a hero? Why or why not?

2. John A. Macdonald is one of the main characters introduced in Part 1. What do you think of him as a character? Is he different than you would have assumed, based on his place in Canadian history?

3. Were you surprised by the presence of the IRA and the development of a terrorist movement at the time of Canadian Confederation?