The Back Of The Turtle: A Novel - Softcover

King, Thomas

4.08

3,560 ratings by Goodreads

9781443431637: The Back Of The Turtle: A Novel

Softcover

ISBN 10: 144343163X ISBN 13: 9781443431637

Publisher: Harper Perennial, 2017

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Winner of the Governor General’s Literary Award for Fiction

Winner of the Sunburst Award

Winner of the Copper Cylinder Adult Award

Finalist for the Trillium Book Award

Finalist for the CBC Bookie Awards

Longlisted for the International Dublin Literary Award

When Gabriel Quinn, a brilliant scientist, abandons his laboratory and returns to Smoke River Reserve, where his mother and sister lived, he finds that almost everyone in the community has disappeared. Even the sea turtles are gone, poisoned by an environmental disaster known as The Ruin.

The fact is, Gabriel was the chief architect of the disaster and he has come to Smoke River to witness the destruction he created and to drown himself in the sea. But as he prepares to let the water take him, he sees a young girl in the waves. Plunging in, he saves her and is soon saving others. Who are these people, with their long black hair and almond eyes, who seem to have fallen from the sky?

Showcasing King’s brilliant wit and trademark wordplay, The Back of the Turtle is a funny, smart, sometimes confounding, and altogether unforgettable tale of betrayal, salvation, and the resilience of life.

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About the Author:

THOMAS KING is an award-winning writer whose fiction includes Green Grass, Running Water; Truth and Bright Water and The Back of the Turtle, which won the Governor General’s Literary Award. His non-fiction book The Truth About Stories won the Trillium Book Award, and The Inconvenient Indian won the BC National Book Award for Canadian Non-Fiction and the RBC Taylor Prize. King’s first collection of poetry, 77 Fragments of a Familiar Ruin, will be published in the fall of 2019. A Member of the Order of Canada and the recipient of an award from the National Aboriginal Achievement Foundation, Thomas King taught at the University of Lethbridge and was chair of American Indian studies at the University of Minnesota before moving to the University of Guelph, where he taught until he retired. King lives in Guelph with his partner, Helen Hoy.

Review:

“Gracefully written, this is a fable-like morality tale. With King’s trademark flashes of humour, irony and deadpan delivery, The Back of the Turtle is populated with wounded characters who are trying to heal in the wake of an environmental disaster.” (Toronto Star)

“King’s writing is sharp, the characters are well-drawn, and his topic is suitably grave.” (National Post)

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