Heather Burt

Lesley Hughes of the Winnipeg Free Press calls Adam’s Peak an “excellent literary novel.” She writes, “Burt fits naturally and beautifully into that group of writers who have given Canadian literature its reputation for creating compelling psychological landscapes peopled by wonderfully wise and complex characters. […] The plot deftly leaps several decades, from the 1940s to the present, longer than that if you count memories, and bridges Great Britain, Sri Lanka and Canada with a political sophistication worthy of a much more mature writer.”

For the full review, please visit http://www.whatsonwinnipeg.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=16604

Maureen Garvie writes, “This fine first novel has much to offer: comedy and tragedy, domestic intimacy and panoramic sweep. […] It’s impressive too how Burt is able to bring to life such a large cast of characters — neighbours, old friends, relations — in a complex story that shrinks the globe.”

For the full Quill & Quire review, please visit http://www.quillandquire.com/reviews/review.cfm?review_id=5435

Jim Bartley, The Globe and Mail’s “first fiction” reviewer writes : “Book against book, novices can outshine the high priests. Heather Burt’s debut spans decades and continents, offering substance free from bombast and poundage.” Bartley later comments on the novel’s “fluency in the ways of human isolation and connection” and maintains that among the novel’s “large and diverse cast, each voice and exchange rings true.”

Andrew Bartlett writes that Adam’s Peak is “deftly plotted work” and “an unequivocal success” in terms of character development. There is, he observes, “a strangely spectacular ordinariness that tips over into the transcendental” in these characters’ lives.

The full text can be found here:

http://www.canlit.ca/reviews-review.php?id=13875

Adam’s Peak is one of six titles featured in CANADIANbookseller’s latest “Crossing Over” feature, which reviews trade titles that are attracting interest on college and university campuses across the country. Reviewer Emily Sinkins writes: “Heather Burt deftly intertwines the stories of Rudy and Clare, whose interactions while growing up as neighbours in Montreal were seldom, but who nevertheless so captured one another’s imagination that they influence each other profoundly in the present day […]. The Sri Lankan and Montreal settings are richly drawn, but the book really shines when it comes to its subtle exploration of family dynamics and its compelling depiction of the two main characters […]. Adam’s Peak is selling strongly at the Langara College Bookstore and has been picked up by instructors for in-class use, according to Manager Robert Leaf. ‘It’s had great reviews across the country and has terrific word-of-mouth buzz around here,’ he notes.”

According to The Suburban, Montreal’s largest English-language weekly paper, Adam’s Peak is a “bodacious debut novel” that’s “easy to get hooked on.” The novel is listed as one of their recommended titles for the gift-giving season.

The Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize is one of seven BC Book Prizes that will be handed out in Vancouver on April 26th.

For more information on BC Book Prize events and the prizes themselves, please visit the BC Book Prize website.

Shelf Life has called Adam’s Peak “a pure joy to read from beginning to end.” The review goes on to say, “Heather Burt has created a Canadian classic that deserves to be read by those who enjoy a book that not only entertains, but stimulates serious thinking.”

Caroline Skelton of the North Shore News has awarded unofficial prizes to all of the nominees in the BC Book Prize fiction category. She writes, “Reading through the five books on the shortlist, it struck me as unfair that one should go home with all the proverbial marbles. What about the many charms and peccadillos of the other four? Not one little ode for all those finely realized characters, lushly painted scenes and hold-onto-your-socks-lest-you-get-blown-away metaphors? What follows are my humble suggestions for new award categories to precede this year’s fiction prize.”

And this year’s “Bad Sex Award” goes to ….

Adam’s Peak by Heather Burt!

Judge’s remarks: “Heather Burt’s sweeping novel is chock full of unfulfilling encounters — from impersonal sex with tourists to ill-fated liaisons with vibrators. The story follows the linked lives of Montreal neighbours Clare and Rudy, in the years following one meaningful childhood encounter, and the events that bring them together again. But it’s also the story of discovery and exploration — which might explain all that fumbling.”

For the rest of the Skelton Awards, check out the full article.