The Time In Between - Hardcover

Bergen, David

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0771011784 ISBN 13: 9780771011788

Publisher: McClelland & Stewart, 2005

Synopsis

In search of love, absolution, or forgiveness, Charles Boatman leaves the Fraser Valley of British Columbia and returns mysteriously to Vietnam, the country where he fought twenty-nine years earlier as a young, reluctant soldier. But his new encounters seem irreconcilable with his memories.

When he disappears, his daughter Ada, and her brother, Jon, travel to Vietnam, to the streets of Danang and beyond, to search for him. Their quest takes them into the heart of a country that is at once incomprehensible, impassive, and beautiful. Chasing her father’s shadow for weeks, following slim leads, Ada feels increasingly hopeless. Yet while Jon slips into the urban nightlife to avoid what he most fears, Ada finds herself growing closer to her missing father — and strong enough to forgive him and bear the heartbreaking truth of his long-kept secret.

Bergen’s marvellously drawn characters include Lieutenant Dat, the police officer who tries to seduce Ada by withholding information; the boy Yen, an orphan, who follows Ada and claims to be her guide; Jack Gouds, an American expatriate and self-styled missionary; his strong-willed and unhappy wife, Elaine, whose desperate encounters with Charles in the days before his disappearance will always haunt her; and Hoang Vu, the artist and philosopher who will teach Ada about the complexity of love and betrayal. We also come to learn about the reclusive author Dang Tho, whose famous wartime novel pulls at Charles in ways he can’t explain.

Moving between father and daughter, the present and the past, The Time in Between is a luminous, unforgettable novel about one family, two cultures, and a profound emotional journey in search of elusive answers.
From the Hardcover edition.

About this title

From the Back Cover

In search of love and absolution, Charles Boatman leaves for Vietnam, the country where he had fought 29 years earlier as a young, reluctant soldier. When he disappears, his daughter, Ada, and her brother, Jon, travel to the streets of Da Nang and beyond.

Their quest takes them into the heart of a country at once incomprehensible, impassive, and beautiful. While Jon slips into the urban nightlife to avoid what he most fears, Ada finds herself growing closer to her missing father -- and strong enough to forgive him and bear the heartbreaking truth of his long-kept secret. The dual narration by Michael Hogan and Tricia Collins gives breathtaking immediacy to this affecting novel.

About the Author

David Bergen is the author of four highly acclaimed novels: A Year of Lesser, a New York Times Notable Book and winner of the McNally Robinson Book of the Year Award; See the Child; The Case of Lena S., winner of the Carol Shields Winnipeg Book Award, and a finalist for the Governor General’s Award for Fiction, the McNally Robinson Book of the Year Award, and the Margaret Laurence Award for Fiction; and, most recently, The Time in Between, winner of the Scotiabank Giller Prize. He is also the author of a collection of short fiction, Sitting Opposite My Brother, which was a finalist for the Manitoba Book of the Year Award.

David Bergen lives in Winnipeg.
From the Hardcover edition.

About this edition

• Publisher: McClelland & Stewart
• Publication date: 2005
• ISBN 10: 0771011784
• ISBN 13: 9780771011788
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 173