<p>In his evocative debut novel, <i>Light ona Part of the Field</i>, Kevin Holowack introduces us to a family grapplingwith artistic ambition, mental illness, and rifts that may not be possible tomend. Set in BC and Alberta in the 1960s and 1970s, this is a novel of finelyobserved vignettes offering a refracted look at art and family in the modernWest.</p><p>A young artist, Ruth, and her obsessive husband, anaspiring poet, are struck by lightning, an experience that throws their livesinto a universe of intense beauty and angst. Years later, Ruth lives on a farmher husband bought before his mysterious disappearance, and she creates idyllicbut naïve paintings to cope with her confusion and loss. Then, without warning,her eldest daughter Gayle is love-struck by a travelling stranger and runs offto Edmonton where she too must contend with poverty, sickness, and her father’supsetting legacy. Meanwhile, farm-bound Ruth becomes more frantic in her workand begins longing for human contact as her house and animals disintegratearound her.</p><p>
As Gayle and Ruth seek new ways of connecting inorder to remedy their unsettling family legacy, they begin a complicatedprocess of renewal and must decide whether they can reconcile despite all thepain they have caused one another.</p><p>In his evocative debut novel, <i>Light ona Part of the Field</i>, Kevin Holowack introduces us to a family grapplingwith artistic ambition, mental illness, and rifts that may not be possible tomend. Set in BC and Alberta in the 1960s and 1970s, this is a novel of finelyobserved vignettes offering a refracted look at art and family in the modernWest.</p><p>A young artist, Ruth, and her obsessive husband, anaspiring poet, are struck by lightning, an experience that throws their livesinto a universe of intense beauty and angst. Years later, Ruth lives on a farmher husband bought before his mysterious disappearance, and she creates idyllicbut naïve paintings to cope with her confusion and loss. Then, without warning,her eldest daughter Gayle is love-struck by a travelling stranger and runs offto Edmonton where she too must contend with poverty, sickness, and her father’supsetting legacy. Meanwhile, farm-bound Ruth becomes more frantic in her workand begins longing for human contact as her house and animals disintegratearound her.</p><p>
As Gayle and Ruth seek new ways of connecting inorder to remedy their unsettling family legacy, they begin a complicatedprocess of renewal and must decide whether they can reconcile despite all thepain they have caused one another.</p>