Set in the downtown Toronto of the 1980s, these two stories are told with an intricacy which powerfully evokes both sense and dream. An anorexic who embraces poverty after a childhood of privilege attends a small dinner party where she confronts secrets and lies of the past and present. Dominant in his relationships with an Ojibwe wife and a ballet dancer, a taxidermist becomes obsessed with an elephant calf then fails in his one attempt at mercy. "Raine" and "The Taxidermist" are deeply concerned with the fragility of the body and how it can betray itself as well as be destroyed by others. Yet the abundance and momentum of the world around it continually urge survival.

Lucinda Johnston pulled high wages early in her working life and has been scrambling down the ladder ever since. The business hustle didn't allow enough time with books so she spent many years as a bookseller. Widely travelled on three continents, she has lived in Ontario cities, couch-surfed during her residence in Vancouver and been at home in tents and cabins in B.C.'s wilderness. She holds an English Specialist Degree from the University of Toronto and has been a tireless advocate for the legal status of free expression in Canada. She has published in Fuse Magazine and other periodicals and currently lives in Toronto.

Lucinda Johnston's profile page