Broken Ground by Jack Hodgins

Broken Ground by Jack Hodgins

2011 Outstanding Title, University Press Books for Public and Secondary School Libraries

Broken Ground employs a construction project in the Oregon desert as the basis for a story with far-reaching political and moral implications. Hank Lafleur has been sent to supervise the project, which is a prison-for-profit financed by a multinational corporation under government contract, and meant to house felons, illegal immigrants, and, as Lafleur comes to learn, political prisoners from Latin America. Broken Ground is remarkable for its prophetic vision of the hollow securities promised by incarceration and of the effects of privatization as an armature of American imperialism - in both the domestic and international realms.

Visit the author's website: http: //www.keeblefiction.com/

On Vancouver Island, Jack Hodgins was born and nurtured. He retired from the University of Victoria in 2002 after teaching Creative Writing at a number of Canadian universities. He is the author of seven novels, including The Creation of the World, The Resurrection of Joseph Bourne, winner of the Governor General's Award, The Macken Charm, Broken Ground, winner of the Ethel Wilson Prize for Fiction, and Distance, as well as three collections of short stories, Spit Delaney's Island, a Governor General's Award finalist, The Barclay Family Theatre, and Damage Done by the Storm. A Love for Narrative: A Handbook for Writing Fiction is his first book. Hodgins has received numerous awards, including the Canada-Australia Award, three honorary degrees, and election as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada.