We Who Seek

Lynne Perras teaches communication arts at the University of Calgary.

Part love story and part social commentary on university student life in
the 1960s, this short but captivating novel chronicles the adventures of
Leo Singer, a history major and artist at a university in Saskatoon.

Leo falls in love with the mysterious and guarded Burr. Their courtship
is rocky, and Leo finds it all but impossible to consummate their
relationship. What follows is his ensuing struggle to understand why,
and to solve his problem through both sacred and profane ways.

Margoshes, who has published several collections of poetry, reveals his
poetic prowess in descriptions such as the following: “Together, they
represent the epitome (written as the might pronounce it this afternoon,
it would be spelled epitomb) of academic bohemianism, prairie
style—this is 1965, remember; the beatniks are dead, the hippies not
yet quite born, not up in these chilly parts, at any rate. These cats
are in between, like stars with a purpose caught in an indifferent
galaxy, shining where no one can see their light.”

This deeply engaging novel is also notable for its beautifully realized
characters.