NOMINEE 2011 – Toronto Book Awards
When Edal Jones wakes to the sound of a mouse on the hardwood floor by her bed, she doesn’t quite know why she says softly, “Hello.” But then, a lot of things have stopped making sense for Edal. As a federal wildlife officer at Pearson International Airport she’s seen everything from goliath bird-eating tarantulas crammed in a briefcase to a California condor “folded up like a sports coat.” So why has the sight of juvenile star tortoises crushed and broken in a grandmother’s luggage suddenly made it impossible for her to go on?
That same morning, riding her bike in the empty downtown core, Edal spots a young homeless girl rescuing birds that have knocked themselves out against the glassy office towers. Edal tracks Lily through the city to Howell Auto Wreckers in Toronto’s east end and discovers a new world where the links between people and animals can heal rather than hurt.
Handsome wrecking-yard owner Guy Howell employs Stephen, a young soldier on medical release whose duties include veterinary as well as mechanical tasks. Guy is rehabilitating a weakened red-tailed hawk, while Stephen raises a litter of orphaned raccoons, and Lily comes and goes with her birds and her constant companion, a massive black dog named Billy. All the characters in Fauna are animal lovers in search of something that human cruelty has denied them. As the narrative develops, we learn more about each of them, until they begin to feel like our intimate friends. The circle expands to include a young veterinary technician mourning her lover’s death, then expands again with dramatic consequences for all concerned when a disturbed young man starts taking out his anger and sorrow on the coyotes that live in the Don Valley.
Gently, meditatively, this unique novel delivers a profoundly immersive experience. A new kind of urban writing, Fauna encourages us to look again at the margins and undercurrents of the cities we inhabit, and consider how we treat the other beings who call those spaces home. What’s more, the persuasive beauty of York’s writing, the tenderness of her approach to her characters, and the connections she draws between them invite us to look inward and re-evaluate both the human and the animal within.
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Alissa York’s fiction has won the Journey Prize and the Bronwen Wallace Award, and has been published in Canada, the U.S., France, Holland and Italy. Her most recent novel, Effigy, was shortlisted for the Scotiabank Giller Prize and longlisted for the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award. York has lived all over Canada and now makes her home in Toronto with her husband, artist Clive Holden.
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Book Description Hardcover. Condition: Very Good+. Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good+, Not Price Clipped. Canadian First. Complete number line from 1 to 9; some edge wear to boards and dust jacket; otherwise a solid, clean copy with no marking or underlining; collectible condition; dust jacket is protected by a mylar cover; note: end papers are deliberately designed to look worn and stained!. Book. Seller Inventory # 008773
Book Description Hardcover. 8vo. Very good+ in very good+ dustjacket. Seller Inventory # 057950
Book Description Hardcover. pp. 375. 8vo. Near fine in near fine dustjacket (protected in brodart sleeve). Seller Inventory # 053124
Book Description Hardcover. Condition: Good. No Jacket. Pages can have notes/highlighting. Spine may show signs of wear. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less 1.4. Seller Inventory # G0307357899I3N00
Book Description Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. No Jacket. May have limited writing in cover pages. Pages are unmarked. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less 1.4. Seller Inventory # G0307357899I4N00
Book Description Hard Cover. Condition: VG. Dust Jacket Condition: VG. First Edition. First Canadian printing (complete number line to 1). Light soil to outer edges. DJ has edge/rub wear and light creasing. Actual book for sale pictured. 16.5 x 23.8 x 3.2cm, wt800g Size: 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall. Seller Inventory # 018738
Book Description Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. Seller Inventory # 978030735789C
Book Description Condition: Very Good. Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good. 8vo pp. 375. Signed by the author on title page. Signed by Author. book. Seller Inventory # 301186
Book Description Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good. 1st Edition. SIGNED BY ALISSA YORK on title page; Clean, tight, unmarked; very minimal wear; Alissa York creates a contemporary human fable that taps into the great tenderness and drama at the heart of the animal world. The wide ravine that bisects the city is home to countless species of urban wildlife, including human waifs and strays. When Edal Jones can't cope with the casual cruelty she encounters in her job as a federal wildlife officer, she finds herself drawn to a beacon of solace nestled in the valley under the unlikely banner of an auto-wrecker's yard. Guy Howell, the handsome proprietor, offers sanctuary to animals and people alike: a half-starved hawk and a brood of orphaned raccoon kits, a young soldier whose spirit failed him during his first tour of duty, a teenage runaway and her massive black dog. Guy is well versed in the delicate workings of damaged beings, and he might just stand a chance at mending Edal's heart. But before love can bloom, the little community must come to terms with a different breed of lost soul?a young man whose brutal backwoods childhood is catching up with him, causing him to persecute the creatures that call the valley home. Signed by Author(s). Seller Inventory # 007721
Book Description Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good. 1st Edition. First Edition. Clean No Remarks Or Highlights Inside. 376 Pages. Hardcover With A Dust Jacket. Signed "Alissa York, To The Animals With Love Alissa- We ship from Canada and the USA. Specializing in academic, collectible and historically significant, providing the utmost quality and customer service satisfaction. For any questions feel free to email us. Signed by Author(s). Seller Inventory # A11293a