A Splinter in the Heart

Al Purdy's only novel,A Splinter in the Heart, is an unforgettable coming-of-age story that unfolds against the real-life tragedy of what came to be known as the Trenton Disaster. Set in 1918, it tells the story of sixteen-year-old Patrick Cameron and the events that will change him and the Ontario town in which he lives forever. Over the course of one summer and fall, Patrick finds love with a girl whose betrayal he cannot foresee, confronts the death of his beloved grandfather, and comes to terms with a neighbourhood rival. All the while, his hometown of Trenton lives precariously in the shadow of a dynamite factory, a sinister reminder of the Great War, which brought such prosperity to the town. Vivid with character and event, and evocative of time and place,A Splinter in the Heartis a moving portrait of a young man's journey into adulthood in an era of change.

<b>Al Purdy</b> was born in 1918, in Wooler, Ontario. He wrote his first poem at the age of thirteen and published his first collection of poetry, <i>The Enchanted Echo</i>, in 1944. In a writing career that spanned over fifty years, he published over thirty books of poetry; a novel; two volumes of memoirs, most recently <i>Reaching for the Beaufort Sea</i>; and four books of correspondence, including <i>Margaret Laurence </i>–<i> Al Purdy: A Friendship in Letters</i>. His final collection of poetry, <i>Beyond Remembering: The Collected Poems of Al Purdy</i>, will be released posthumously in the fall of 2000. Purdy also wrote radio and television plays for the CBC, served as writer-in-residence at a number of Canadian universities, and edited several anthologies of poetry.<br><br>