The Little Shadows

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The wonderful and eagerly anticipated new novel from a writer whose last book was shortlisted for the prestigious Giller Prize and won the Commonwealth Prize (Canada and the Caribbean).
Here is the spectacular new work by a writer who was justly celebrated for her Giller-nominated novel, Good to a Fault. But whereas that previous book was contemporary and domestic, this ambitious new work has a broader canvas: it is set in a vanished time (1912), and in the fantastically rich world of vaudeville. The story revolves around three sisters: Aurora, the eldest and most beautiful, sixteen when the book opens; thoughtful Clover, who is fourteen; and the youngest, joyous headstrong sprite Bella, who is thirteen. The girls, overseen by their fond but barely coping Mama, must make their living as a singing act after the untimely death of their father. They begin with little besides youth and hope, but Endicott's genius is to show how the three girls evolve into true artists. In gorgeous prose and through unforgettable characters, Marina Endicott takes us onto the brightly lit stage and then into the little shadows that lurk behind the curtain, and reveals how the art of vaudeville -- in all its variety, madness, melodrama, hilarity and sorrow -- echoes the art of life itself.

Marina Endicott's previous novel, Good to a Fault, won the Commonwealth Writers' Prize for Best Book, Canada and the Caribbean, and was a finalist for the prestigious Scotiabank Giller Prize. Her first novel, Open Arms, was shortlisted for the Amazon/Books in Canada First Novel Award. Endicott has been an actor, director, playwright and editor, and now lives in Edmonton, Alberta, where she teaches at the University of Edmonton and writes.