The Day I Left You, by Caroline Bishop, is one of the great books we're offering for giveaway throughout February 2025. 

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*****

Though I’m a Canadian citizen, I grew up in the UK, where my Canadian mother and British father decided to raise my sister and me. I’ve visited Canada multiple times over the years, but I have never lived here. As a result, I don’t have the same cultural touchstones as most Canadians (although the Barenaked Ladies, Stoned Wheat Thins and Tim Hortons did make a big impression on my teenage self). And that extends to books. Bar international literary stars such as Alice Munro and Margaret Atwood, my knowledge of Canadian authors is not extensive. 

Which is why it’s been such a pleasure, since I was first published in Canada in 2022, to get to know the work of many contemporary Canadian writers. As I celebrate my new book The Day I Left You reaching Canadian bookstores, here are seven Canadian novels that I’ve recently read and enjoyed, all of which have taught me new things about Canadian history, geography and culture, as well as demonstrating the wealth of literary talent in a country that may not be my homeland, but has always been very special to me.  

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The Forgotten Home Child, by Genevieve Graham

I love a novel that teaches me something while also being a cracking story. Until I read this book, I didn’t know that many thousands of so-called British Home Children were sent from the UK to Canada in the late 1800s and the first half of the 20th century, mainly to work on farms. Graham’s story illuminates their experiences through the eyes of Winny and Jack, London street kids who are shipped to Canada with the promise of a better life, only to face hardship after hardship. At times harrowing and desperately poignant, this is an ultimately hopeful story about the strength of the human spirit.

*

Moon Road, by Sarah Leipciger

Canadian-born Sarah Leipciger lives in the UK, yet her quietly beautiful story transports the reader from one side of Canada to the other. Moon Road tells the story of Kathleen and Yannick, once married but long estranged, whose adult daughter Una disappeared 20 years previously. When bones are discovered on Vancouver Island, where Una vanished, the pair decide to drive there from their home in Ontario. Along the way, these two damaged, prickly, complicated people must grapple with their shared history and each other, while preparing to find answers to the mystery they’ve lived with for so long. Leipciger really gets under the skin of her characters as we’re swept along the highway with them, while the depiction of Canada’s vast fields and empty roads made me feel as though I were there myself. Interspersed with this journey are snapshots of Una’s story years earlier in Tofino, a place I’ve visited and loved, and which also features in my novel The Day I Left You.

*

Twenty-Seven Minutes, by Ashley Tate

A raw, unflinching story about loss and grief, this was a tough read for me, but one that will stay with me for its well-drawn characters, evocative depiction of small-town life and the haunting mystery at the heart of the novel: after a car crash, why did a brother wait a fatal 27 minutes to get help for his severely injured sister? On the ten-year anniversary of the tragedy, emotions and memories swirl around the town where it happened, eventually bubbling to the surface and providing a heartbreaking answer. 

*

The Secret History of Audrey James, by Heather Marshall

I knew very little about the fight for abortion rights in Canada until I read Marshall’s debut, Looking for Jane, and I loved how the story entwined this aspect of social history around an intriguing mystery. So I was excited to read her follow up. The Secret History of Audrey James is loosely inspired by Canadian woman, Mona Parsons, who joined the Dutch resistance in World War Two and subsequently escaped from a Nazi prison. Marshall’s dual timeline novel takes us to Berlin in 1938 where Audrey, a talented young pianist, becomes involved with the German resistance while trying to protect her Jewish friend Ilse from Nazi tyranny. In the present day, a young woman grieving the loss of her parents discovers a connection between her own life and Audrey’s. Though very different to her debut, this novel once more displays Marshall’s ability to tackle difficult subjects with empathy and sensitivity.

*

Eight Strings, by Margaret DeRosia

I’ve spent quite a bit of time in Venice, and I once worked in the London theatre industry, so a novel set around a 19th century Venetian puppet theatre really appealed to me. The story follows young Francesca, who has always dreamed of being a puppeteer, a profession only open to men. Disguising herself as a boy to get a job as an apprentice puppeteer, she must prove her worth while keeping her secret and protecting the woman she falls in love with. DeRosia delves into the sights, sounds and smells of 19th century Venice, evoking both its worn beauty and its gritty underbelly. An atmospheric read that nods to Shakespeare in its themes and settings.

*

Lucky, by Marissa Stapley 

I raced through this one, the story of the titular Lucky, a young woman brought up to be an expert con artist by her fraudster father. When this professional scammer is herself scammed and abandoned by her boyfriend, she’s left to fend for herself—and even a winning lottery ticket won’t save her skin, since she can’t claim her winnings without giving herself up to the police. Stapley balances Lucky’s present-day escapades with the poignant backstory of her upbringing, which fuels a quest to find the mother she has never known. A highly enjoyable romp with, at times, an almost fable-like quality.

*

Crow Lake, by Mary Lawson

The first of Lawson’s novels that I read was A Town Called Solace, and I loved it so much I went straight out and bought Crow Lake. At its heart is the story of four siblings living in a farming community in Northern Ontario whose world is torn apart when their parents die. As Kate and her brothers struggle to forge a life for themselves, misunderstandings and missed opportunities gradually create distance between them, until, years later, returning to Crow Lake for a birthday celebration, Kate must reassess her feelings towards the siblings she left behind to pursue her career. Lawson’s characters are so relatable in their flaws, and she writes so beautifully about the tangle of emotions that make up human relationships.

*

Learn more about The Day I Left You: 

East Berlin, 1982. When Greta Schneider meets Henry Henderson, she is instantly smitten. An engineer on a work visa from Britain, Henry offers Greta a taste of the world beyond the Iron Curtain, a world that she yearns to explore as a translator once she finishes university. For Henry, Greta is simply perfect—bold and beautiful, her lively and inquisitive nature adding a vital spark to his everyday life.

But their time together is limited. Henry can’t stay once his visa expires, and Greta is forbidden from going beyond the Berlin Wall. It’s only been a few weeks, but they know how they feel about each other, so when Henry proposes, Greta accepts—and is given permission to start a new life with Henry in England. And for a time, everything is perfect. Until, one day, out of the blue, Greta walks out the door of their Oxford home, leaving a simple note behind.

Decades later, Henry still has unanswered questions. Greta loved him, and he loved her. They surmounted the odds to be together, and in his heart, he knows their marriage was happy. So why did she leave? How well did he really know his wife? When a young mother visits Henry’s antique restoration shop, she unknowingly brings with her a clue that sends Henry on a journey to find out what happened to the love of his life all those years ago.

Set against the backdrop of the Cold War, The Day I Left You is a gorgeous, spellbinding story about the nature of love, the memories we cling to, and the hurts we must leave behind to move forward.