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Bad Land
A slow-burning story exploring the generational effects of repression and transgression, set against the raw, eerie landscape of the badlands
Regina is a socially awkward loner who is content to live a life withdrawn from everyone except her cherished pet bunny. But after seven years of silence, Regina's brother, Ricky, shows up unannounced on her doorstep, along with his daughter, Jez - a peculiar six-year-old with an unnerving vicious streak - upending Regina's quiet life. It's clear to Regina that something terrible has happened, though the truth won't come to the surface easily. After all, Regina and Ricky lived a childhood fraught with secrets buried as deep as the fossils in the desolate landscape around them. But this secret is one that cannot stay buried for long, and its exposure sets off a calamitous journey through the plains and mountains of Alberta's badlands to the coast of BC, forcing Regina to confront the brutality of family love and to question how far she is willing to go to preserve it. By turns thrilling and heartwarming, rife with gothic tension, and carried by fervent compassion, Bad Land is a story about the toxic nature of guilt, the fragility of memory, and the ways we shape our own versions of the truth in order to survive. Advance Praise for Bad LandA powerful and disturbing exploration of kinship and obligation – a riveting literary journey I'll never forget." With compassion and keen perception, BAD LAND explores the bodies we inhabit, the blood that connects us, and the bones in the ground under our feet. Corinna Chong is an unforgettable writer, and this is a stunning, deeply unnerving book. BAD LAND is a masterpiece about family, how it rips us apart and also tethers us forever, for better or worse. Chong shows how some loves are unequivocal and indelible, as though they are cast in stone. This novel is surprising at every turn – touching, unsparing, saturated with truth about love and abandonment. All those damaging, enduring human entanglements, old as the dinosaurs. Chong’s narrator, Regina, has the pull of a planet. I love every sentence here; I love this novel." BAD LAND is a marvel – original and unforgettable. Chong's voice echoes beyond the last page." ReviewsAn exhilarating quest that begins as a questionable fool’s errand, BAD LAND is taut and tense and accomplished, an adroit tale of redemption in a vividly-rendered, unforgiving region of hardship and rare second chances." (full review) As she did in her book of short stories, The Whole Animal, Chong presents characters who are mixed up and struggling to understand themselves and their loved ones. Her writing is loose and expressive, dramatic and poetic, and full of small observant details. She strings together sentences that generate an atmosphere of anticipation and dread. BAD LAND's a compelling story that at times reads like a bad dream." (full review) Chong delivers a strong sophomore novel exploring the power of familial connections, the corrosive effect of secrets on family relationships, and how hidden truths and distance take a toll on the bonds between siblings. [...] This Scotiabank Giller Prize–nominated book is an integral addition to the Canadian literary canon." (full review) |