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One Who Has Been Here Before

Rebecca Babcock

9781771089296
280 pages
Nimbus Publishing
Overview

Contemporary Atlantic gothic fiction inspired by Nova Scotia's notorious Goler clan.

I move around the side of the house. There is a thick mass of shrubs on the north-east side. Juniper, and caragana gone wild. Without thinking, I pluck a flower and put it into my mouth, savouring the delicate yellowness of its flavour. Now when did I learn to do that? Who first put a caragana blossom on my tongue?

Emma G. Weaver easily loses herself in history. She's much more comfortable imagining the lives of the dead than getting involved with the living. She pushes down nagging questions about her own history, but when her Master's research leads her from her safe and comfortable life in Edmonton, Alberta, back to the south shore of Nova Scotia, those questions can't help but bubble to the surface. And Emma soon finds that the lives of the dead are inextricably linked to the lives of the living, that secrets don't stay hidden forever—and that everything changes when they come to light.

Inspired by the true story of the notorious Goler clan of Nova Scotia's Annapolis Valley, this work of contemporary Atlantic gothic fiction troubles the boundaries between myth and truth, villains and victims.

Author Bio
Rebecca Babcock is an award-winning writer living in Halifax, Nova Scotia. She holds a Master's degree from the University of Alberta and a PhD from Dalhousie University. She often worries about being asked for medical help and having to explain she's not that kind of doctor. She has previously published a short story collection, Every Second Weekend, and her fiction has appeared in literary magazines in Canada and abroad. One Who Has Been Here Before is her first novel.