Fiction. African American Studies. Pedro Moore leaves the nurturing yet destitute home of his grandmother on Isabella Island to join his mother Isis, who works as a domestic in Montreal. Pedro brings with him the memories of his island, the teachings of his beloved grandmother, and a desire to know the secret identity of his father. BEHIND THE FACE OF WINTER is a coming-of-age novel that takes place in a Montreal in which immigrant youth totter on the edge of self-destruction and oblivion. Thomas's language is spare, and his crackling dialogue and use of patois compares with the best in Caribbean literature. This is a brilliantly evocative novel sure to leave its mark on the reader. "[a] satisfying novel . . . [with] an impressive sense of place"-Times Literary Supplement.

Author City: Montreal, QC CAN

H. Nigel Thomas was born in St. Vincent and now lives in Montreal. After a stint as a high school teacher in Montreal, Thomas was for many years a professor of US literature at Université Laval, before retiring. He is the author of three novels, Spirits in the Dark (shortlisted for the QWF Hugh MacLennan Prize for Fiction), BEHIND THE FACE OF WINTER, and RETURN TO ARCADIA; the story collections How Loud Can the Village Cock Crow and LIVES: WHOLE AND OTHERWISE; and a book of poetry, Moving through Darkness. Thomas has also published two works of nonfiction, From Folklore to Fiction: A Study of Fold Heroes and Rituals in the Black American Novel, and WHY WE WRITE: CONVERSATIONS WITH AFRICAN CANADIAN POETS AND NOVELISTS.