Story, Struggle and Sports—David Albertyn
David Albertyn writes: I wanted Undercard to have all the aspects of a great sports story, within the context of a great thriller. I wanted the outcome of a sports event to be integral to the outcome of a criminal plot. I wanted my four principal characters to be athletes, current or former, and the specific sport they each compete in helps define and develop who they come to be. I wanted a novel that was as riveting as the most furious boxing match, and as blood-thumping as the most daring revenge tale—one compounded on top of the other. In the eight books listed below, story is given equal value and investment as the sports they deal with. Societal issues are too. These Canadian writers use stories about sports to engage with issues pertaining to identity, race, immigration, discrimination, poverty, and loss, among others. All of them document struggle. Struggle against injustice, struggle to understand one’s self, struggle for a better life, and of course, the struggle to win.
