First published 2008
Moses Berger sits surrounded by files and empty bottles, piecing together fragments of the Gursky family history. For forty-one years, since childhood, he has tracked this wealthy Jewish-Canadian dynasty with the dedication of a detective. Now fifty-two and drinking too much, Moses works as a biographer obsessed with one particular Gursky above all others. Solomon Gursky disappeared in a plane crash, or so the official story goes. Moses suspects otherwise. The Gurskys built their fortune through cunning and ambition, but Solomon always stood apart from his relatives. His trail leads Moses through decades of Canadian history, from the Arctic to the prairie provinces. Each document Moses uncovers reveals new questions about Solomon's fate. The wealthy family guards their secrets carefully, but Moses refuses to abandon his search. His obsession has cost him relationships and stability, yet he cannot stop digging into the mystery that has shaped his entire adult life.
Genres: literary-fiction, 20th-century, mystery, canadian-literature, 21st-century, family-drama
Vibes: atmospheric, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: obsessive-protagonist, unreliable-narrator
Setting: Arctic, Canada, Prairie Provinces
Period: 20th Century, 21st Century
450 pages · Unknown Binding · New Canadian Library