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All That's Left

by (author) Lisa Guenther

Publisher
NeWest Press
Initial publish date
May 2024
Subjects
Literary, NON-CLASSIFIABLE, Contemporary Women
Categories
Set in Alberta (for fiction) , Author lives in Saskatchewan
This eBook meets EPUB Accessibility 1.0 specification and W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 A, at a minimum.
  • eBook

    ISBN
    9781774390979
    Publish Date
    May 2024
    List Price
    $11.99

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Description

Darby Swank’s entire life changed when her Aunt Bea was murdered in their rural Saskatchewan community. Now in college, Darby tentatively develops new friendships and connections, including her charismatic cousin Brynny, a young woman who leads an exciting and inclusive church in rural Alberta. After landing a sought-after gig with an established Toronto band, Darby begins to make a name for herself on the Canadian music scene. Yet she remains haunted by the violence in her past—especially as fame and its trappings force Darby to confront what matters most.

 

By turns lyrical and brutal, All That's Left is a novel that demands to be read.

About the author

Lisa Guenther is a writer and editor based in rural northwestern Saskatchewan. She has previously written for Grainews and Country Guide, and is currently the editor of Canadian Cattlemen magazine. Her farm journalism has received awards from the Canadian Farm Writers' Federation and the North American Association of Agricultural Journalists. Her previous novel, Friendly Fire, was shortlisted for a Saskatchewan Book Award and placed second in the Saskatchewan Writers Guild's John V. Hicks Long Manuscript Award. When she's not writing, editing or reading, Lisa enjoys horseback riding and getting out on the land.

Lisa Guenther's profile page

Excerpt: All That's Left (by (author) Lisa Guenther)

ONE

 

THE SOUND OF traffic on Edmonton’s Stony Plain Road is almost soothing, like listening to surf on the shore. I dig my spoon into the top of my Blizzard, mine a huge chunk of ice cream laced with Reese’s Pieces. Slowly suck the mess off my spoon.

For a moment, I’m just here, sitting at a hard plastic booth at Dairy Queen, letting the ice cream dissolve in my mouth, crunching the candy with my molars. Just a girl enjoying a frozen treat on an early September day. Not Darby Swank, crime victim, niece to a murderer, daughter to a coward. Survivor of the news cycle. My classmates at Grant MacEwan College have been tactful but distant, not asking about the black eye that lingered the first few days of class. Well, most of them have been distant. One girl, Ruby, immediately asked if I was okay, and it was all I could do not to start crying.

It could be worse. At first I worried my voice might have been damaged permanently, ending my singing career before it even began. However, the hoarseness faded quickly with vocal rest.

And so I am lucky. I am counting my blessings. But I am not okay.