The 1960s was a time of great social upheaval as resistance to the Vietnam War and the movement for civil rights captured the hearts and minds of young people on both sides of the border. This is the setting for Victoria author Tricia Dower’s new novel Becoming Lin, published this spring by Caitlin Press. Dower’s Kootenay book launch takes place on Thursday, May 26 at 7 p.m. at the Nelson Public Library.
Becoming Lin follows the story of Linda Wise, desperate to escape her hometown and the collective memory of a sexual assault she endured as a teenager. She is swept into the changing times when she meets a young, newly-ordained Methodist minister with a social justice agenda that includes marches, demonstrations, and the harbouring of draft dodgers hoping to escape to Canada.
A tale of transformation in a time of chaos, Becoming Lin portrays a young woman’s awakening to the moral issues of her time as she confronts the fear that keeps her frozen in childhood.
Tricia Dower’s story collection Silent Girl (Inanna Publications) was nominated for the George Ryga Award for Social Awareness in Literature; her first novel, Stony River (Penguin Canada), was shortlisted for the Canadian Authors Association Award for Fiction. Last year Dower won first prize for creative non-fiction in subTerrain Magazine’s Lush Triumphant literary awards.
Award-winning author Donna Morrissey says “Becoming Lin encaptures, with poetic flair and sensual detail, the turbulent and passionate era of the sixties with all of its political, social, and emotional strife.” Indian Horse author Richard Wagamese says “Tricia Dower has established herself as a literary force to be reckoned with.”
