Sob Lake by Diana Svennes-Smith

Sob Lake by Diana Svennes-Smith

A deeply nuanced coming-of-age story set against the backdrop of the Great Depression and World War II

“To every life there comes a moment where one small decision changes the course of our destinies. From this, everything must follow.” For the lonely Depression-era prairie boy Peter Jensen, that moment comes when a charismatic drifter limps up to his family’s farm, looking for work. So begins his complex and compelling relationship with Jackie O’Dell.

When Peter’s father grows suspicious of his relationship with Jackie, more than ten years his senior, Jackie flees and Peter follows, the pair moving through the remote high country to the underbelly of the big city, and to the ranches and rodeos of Wyoming, Montana, and beyond. As Peter matures, he gains insight into the true nature of their dynamic. In his determination to maintain a sense of agency in defiance of victimhood, he enlists to serve in World War II. As a soldier, Peter discovers an intriguing new world of relationships to explore, but Jackie’s unyielding pull haunts him.

Written with force, lyricism, and beauty, Sob Lake is a deeply empathetic exploration of the disturbing connection between two broken men.

DIANA SVENNES-SMITH earned her BFA at the University of Victoria Creative Writing Co-op Program and graduated with an MFA in Fiction from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop. She has taught fiction writing at universities in the US, Canada, and New Zealand, and her work has been published in Canada and abroad. Her short story “Stranger in Me” won the gold medal in fiction at Canada’s 2018 National Magazine Awards. She lives in Edmonton, Alberta.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9781487014322
ISBN 10	1487014325
Title	Sob Lake
Author	Diana Svennes-Smith
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Paperback
Publisher	House of Anansi Press
Year published	2027-02-16
Number of pages	496
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.