Retreat by Random House

  Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s work has appeared in various publications, including The New Yorker, Granta and Zoetrope. She is the author of The Thing Around Your Neck and of 2 novels, Purple Hibiscus and Half of a Yellow Sun, which won the Orange Prize and was a NBCC Finalist. A recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship, [...]

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  The first sentence of a novel has the capability to capture your interest in less than 5 seconds. Who could ever forget the famous sentence written by Jane Austen in Pride and Prejudice, “It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of [...]

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I don’t know about all of you, but when I start any book (whatever the genre), I tend to try and predict the outcome. Sometimes I’m right. Sometimes, I’m a little off base. Then there are those unique times, when you’re reading and the ending is so shocking, so surprising, that you could never have [...]

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Welcome to the Retreat Book Club! We’re a fun, informal group who meets digitally 4 times a year to discuss great books. Click here to join in the fun and be sure to come back on June 25 from 8:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. Eastern time because next we’ll be chatting with Linwood Barclay about [...]

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Here at the Random House of Canada office, we’ve all been counting down the days until April 2nd. And now the day is finally here… Kate Atkinson’s Life After Life is now available in bookstores near you! If you haven’t heard the buzz surrounding this book, this post is going to catch you up to [...]

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Welcome to the Retreat Book Club! We are  a fun, informal group who meets digitally 4 times a year to discuss great books. Click here to join in the fun and be sure to come back on April 30th because we’ll be chatting with Tanis Rideout, author of Above All Things. Above All Things by [...]

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The Woman Upstairs by Claire Messud Published: Apr 30, 2013 by Knopf Canada ISBN: 9780307401168 Price: $29.95 Chapters-Indigo Amazon   1. Note Claire Messud’s epigraphs for the novel—quotes from some very persuasive, and very powerful, male writers. How do these words set up expectations for the reader? How do these choices look to you upon [...]

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    The Watch by Joydeep Roy-Bhattacharya Published: Mar 12, 2013 by Vintage Canada ISBN: 9780307402240 Price: $19.95 Chapters-Indigo Amazon 1. In ancient Greek lore, Antigone (pronounced anne-TIH-guh-nee) is a defiant young woman willing to risk her life so that her brother’s body can receive proper burial rites. Their uncle, King Creon (KREE-on), has become [...]

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