Books with U of G Ties Among Year's Best
December 01, 2008 - In the News
Two books by authors with U of G connections have made the Globe and Mail's annual "100 Best Books of the Year" list for 2008, which was published this weekend.
Lucy Maud Montgomery: The Gift of Wings by retired English Prof. Mary Rubio was listed among the best non-fiction books of the year. The book is an intimate narrative that covers Montgomery's childhood in Prince Edward Island, her adolescence, her legal fights as a world-famous author and difficulties with marriage, motherhood and her celebrity. Rubio, one of the pre-eminent Montgomery experts in the world, spent more than two decades doing research for The Gift of Wings, including extensive interviews with people who knew the literary icon best, including her son, friends, maids and relatives. She also travelled to Poland and Scotland collecting information.
In the fiction category, The Boys in the Trees by Mary Swan, a former U of G library associate, made the list. The book explores how a small town in Canada deals with a horrific crime. Earlier this fall, it was shortlisted for the Giller Prize, Canada's most prestigious and commercially significant award for literary fiction.
