Twenty-Six

Chris Simmons is the reference librarian at Queen’s University in
Kingston.

Leo McKay’s second work of published fiction follows his
Giller-nominated book of short stories, Like This. Set against the
backdrop of the Westray mining disaster in Stellarton, Nova Scotia,
Twenty Six follows the Burrows family and their life in the Red Row, an
infamous working-class neighbourhood.

The Burrows patriarch, Ennis, is a union activist whose passion for his
cause has been squandered in drink. His relationship with his two sons,
Arvel and Ziv, is a simmering conflict couched in silence. Much of the
narrative centres on Ziv, who has dropped out of university for
uncertain reasons. Ziv subsists through part-time work at Zellars and
letters from his ex-girlfriend Meta, who teaches English in Japan and
whose experiences form a subplot of the novel. After Arvel is killed in
the mining disaster (the product of greed, incompetence, apathy, and
egotism), Ziv begins to awaken from his ennui.

Twenty Six offers its readers emotional depth, compelling storytelling,
and a thought-provoking portrait of the labour struggles that underwrite
Canadian prosperity.