Well Read - With Mary Reid

Mary Reid is the curator of contemporary art and photography at The Winnipeg Art Gallery.

I am currently reading
Voyageurs by Margaret Elphinstone
I am about 100 pages into what I assume is a fictitious account of a young English Quaker who has travels to Upper Canada in the early 1800s in search of his missionary sister. The prose flips between letters, first hand accounts, journal entries and active dialogue making it a bit confusing to follow at times. However I must commend the author on the extensive research which shapes the narrative, making for a compelling and highly interesting read.


I just finished reading
Where the Shadows Burn by Catherine Hunter
My friend gave me this book when I was nursing a terrible cold and it was the perfect medicine. Set in Winnipeg and Minneapolis, the story traces the upsetting trials of a young costume designer whose husband committed suicide. Recent crank phone calls, elusive appearances of her dead spouse and missing personal items make her question her own sanity. The author takes the reader through various scenarios that compound speculations and suspicions. As a person who can usually detect whodunit pretty early on, this mystery had me guessing right through to the big reveal.

Body Traffic by Alex Domokos and Rita Y. Toews
Nominated for a Manitoba Book Award in 2006, I gave this one to my father as a gift, who then recommended I read it. Also set in Winnipeg, the story centres around three main characters: Sonja, Stan and Anel. Through a sordid mix of events that include murder and human organ trafficking, these three become an unlikely team of heroes. Not the genre that I would normally read, but I have to admit I enjoyed this guilty pleasure of corruption and redemption.

A book that is particularly significant to me

The Way the Crow Flies by Ann-Marie MacDonald
This substantial novel follows precocious, eight-year-old Madeleine who, along with her family, moves to an air force base in southern Ontario, which is caught up in the optimism of the early 1960s. Borrowing from the Stephen Truscott case, MacDonald weaves an evocative and captivating tale of innocence lost. Troubling and moving, this story has stayed ever present with me since I read it four years ago.