Book Review: The Fishers of Paradise
by Rachael
Preston
Reviewed By Rita Bailey
Most novels don’t grab me because of
the setting, but in Rachel Preston’s The
Fishers of Paradise it’s the landscape that pulls us in.
Set in Depression-era Hamilton ,
this book takes us back to a time when a shantytown lines the shores of Cootes
Paradise. It’s a place where a man with money in his pocket can find a cockfight
on a Saturday night—and where a body or two might float to the surface when the
ice melts in the spring.
The novel opens with a house being
towed across the marsh. We see the scene from the viewpoint of teenaged Egypt
Fisher, a young woman with a lot on her mind. She keeps an eye on her younger
brother, Aidan, who tends to play too near the water’s edge, all the while
aware that the lovesick Joey Payne is behind her, waiting for her to turn
around and greet him with a smile.
But Egypt
is in no mood for flirting. Thanks to the City Beautiful Movement, her own home
and those of her neighbours are all at risk. Though the cabin she lives in with
her mother and her brother is no palace, it’s the only home she’s ever known.
When Egypt
discovers she has wealthy grandparents it seems like someone has thrown her a
lifesaver, but it soon becomes evident that her family relationships are as
tangled as the grasses that line the marsh itself. Then there is Matt Oakes,
the handsome stranger who drifts into the community and manages to pull them
all apart.
These intertwined relationships drive the story forward. Egypt is forced
to make hard decisions about where her loyalty lies and what exactly
constitutes the truth.

But it’s the characters that bring this landscape to life; characters
whose motivations and needs are as multi-layered and murky as the swamp that
gives the book its name.
Thanks to Bookmark Canada ,
The Fishers of Paradise has earned a
Bookmark on the Desjardin
Canal , near the floating
bridge. This organization is creating a cross-Canada literary trail by placing
plaques with excerpts from stories and poems in the exact location of their
settings. To view this Bookmark, park at Dundurn
Castle , walk to the High Level Bridge and head down the stairs. Or
start at Bayfront
Park and hike along the
trail towards Princess Point.
As you walk along the marsh, squint your eyes. Imagine ramshackle homes
clinging to the shores. Picture a boy in a rowboat catching fish, or a man
emerging from the woods, a limp muskrat over his shoulder. If it’s winter and
the water has frozen, conjure up a teenaged girl and her brother, legs pushing
full out as they skate past the ice-fishing huts all the way to Dundas .
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