The acclaimed writer Thomas Wharton discusses his new novel The Book of Rain (Random House, 2023), with Joseph Planta.

The Book of Rain by Thomas Wharton (Random House, 2023). Click to buy this book from Amazon.ca: The Book of Rain

Text of introduction by Joseph Planta:

I am Planta: On the Line, in Vancouver, British Columbia, at TheCommentary.ca.

Thomas Wharton joins me now. The award-winning writer has just published a new novel, The Book of Rain. It’s described as an affecting work of environmental literary suspense. In the book we meet Alex Hewitt, as he returns to River Meadows, a resource community somewhere in Northern Alberta. They used to mine a resource there that was quite valuable, but they’ve since stopped since an accident forced evacuation. Alex is back though to find his sister Amery, who’s disappeared rescuing animals trapped in the restricted zone. Another story in the book is that of Claire Coley, a young woman who was from River Meadows, who now traffic’s endangered wildlife. And there’s a third story where in the future, a flock of birds sets out on a dangerous journey to prevent the extinction of their ancient enemy, humanity. I’ll ask Mr. Wharton about his book, and ask him to tell us as much as he’d like about his stories and his characters. Thomas Wharton’s first novel Icefields won the 1996 Commonwealth Writers’ Prize for Best First Book in Canada and the Caribbean. It was also a 2008 CBC Canada Reads pick. His second book, Salamander was shortlisted for the 2001 Governor General’s Award for Fiction, and a finalist for the Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize. His 2006 book The Logogryph was shortlisted for the International Dublin Literary Award. The website for more is at www.thomaswharton.ca. He lives in Edmonton, but he joined me from Toronto last week. This new book is published by Random House. Please welcome to the Planta: On the Line program, Thomas Wharton; Mr. Wharton, good morning.

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