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This is the spellbinding story of six young dreamers who set out from Vancouver in the seventies to haphazardly establish a back-to-the-land commune on a small island in the Salish Sea.
Against all odds, the dream endures for half a century through fierce internecine squabbling, occasional community uproar, births and deaths, disasters in animal husbandry, the War in the Woods, RCMP raids and the blandishments of oily developers. But throughout it all what abides is the land itself, its gifts and spirits and seasonal graces. A story within a story, the tale is told by the commune’s sole remaining occupant to an enigmatic stranger. Herself a recent urban exile exploring the ways of rural living, she succeeds in coaxing him through his rememberings away from grief into renewed life.
Des Kennedy brings his signature humour and intimate knowledge of gardens and woodlands to this engaging novel. Throughout Commune, Kennedy poses the big questions—how do we best live our lives? Build community? Create a new paradigm for raising kids, growing food and honouring the genius of our place?
“Des Kennedy's Commune is a gorgeous ode to dreams and their dreamers, a story of sex, soil, and sacrifice. Told with narrative verve through quicksilver prose, Commune conjures an agrarian idealism that feels increasingly relevant to our troubled world, rendering a uniquely BC experience powerfully universal. I loved every glorious page.”
–Michael Christie, author of Greenwood
“Commune takes readers back to what I used to think was a simpler time and way of life. But this gem of a novel has helped me understand that the 1970s were just as complicated, challenging and beautiful as the decades since. Thanks to Des Kennedy’s pitch-perfect prose and diverse cast of memorable characters, I was right there on the farm with the other dreamers, as I turned the pages well into the night and the next morning, too. Kennedy is a gifted storyteller. ”
–Terry Fallis, two-time winner of the Stephen Leacock Memorial Medal for Humour
“Des Kennedy reaps a harvest of delights in a gleeful, fictional memoir that explores the joys and woes of going back to the land in the 1970s. Des's love, respect, concern and hope for the natural world shine through his expressive yet playful prose. ”
–William Deverell, author of Stung, finalist for the Dashiell Hammett Prize
Harbour Publishing
ISBN: 9781990776519
Paperback / softback
6 in x 9 in - 352 pp
Publication Date: 28/10/2023
BISAC Subject(s):: FIC077000-FICTION / Nature & the Environment,FIC066000-FICTION / Small Town & Rural,FIC019000-FICTION / Literary
:
Description
This is the spellbinding story of six young dreamers who set out from Vancouver in the seventies to haphazardly establish a back-to-the-land commune on a small island in the Salish Sea.
Against all odds, the dream endures for half a century through fierce internecine squabbling, occasional community uproar, births and deaths, disasters in animal husbandry, the War in the Woods, RCMP raids and the blandishments of oily developers. But throughout it all what abides is the land itself, its gifts and spirits and seasonal graces. A story within a story, the tale is told by the commune’s sole remaining occupant to an enigmatic stranger. Herself a recent urban exile exploring the ways of rural living, she succeeds in coaxing him through his rememberings away from grief into renewed life.
Des Kennedy brings his signature humour and intimate knowledge of gardens and woodlands to this engaging novel. Throughout Commune, Kennedy poses the big questions—how do we best live our lives? Build community? Create a new paradigm for raising kids, growing food and honouring the genius of our place?
“Des Kennedy's Commune is a gorgeous ode to dreams and their dreamers, a story of sex, soil, and sacrifice. Told with narrative verve through quicksilver prose, Commune conjures an agrarian idealism that feels increasingly relevant to our troubled world, rendering a uniquely BC experience powerfully universal. I loved every glorious page.”
–Michael Christie, author of Greenwood
“Commune takes readers back to what I used to think was a simpler time and way of life. But this gem of a novel has helped me understand that the 1970s were just as complicated, challenging and beautiful as the decades since. Thanks to Des Kennedy’s pitch-perfect prose and diverse cast of memorable characters, I was right there on the farm with the other dreamers, as I turned the pages well into the night and the next morning, too. Kennedy is a gifted storyteller. ”
–Terry Fallis, two-time winner of the Stephen Leacock Memorial Medal for Humour
“Des Kennedy reaps a harvest of delights in a gleeful, fictional memoir that explores the joys and woes of going back to the land in the 1970s. Des's love, respect, concern and hope for the natural world shine through his expressive yet playful prose. ”
–William Deverell, author of Stung, finalist for the Dashiell Hammett Prize
Details
Harbour Publishing
ISBN: 9781990776519
Paperback / softback
6 in x 9 in - 352 pp
Publication Date: 28/10/2023
BISAC Subject(s):: FIC077000-FICTION / Nature & the Environment,FIC066000-FICTION / Small Town & Rural,FIC019000-FICTION / Literary
: