Caprice - Softcover

Bowering, George

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1554200539 ISBN 13: 9781554200535

Publisher: New Star Books, 2010

Synopsis

Fiction. It's the mid 1890s in Kamloops, British Columbia. Two men argue over a bottle of whisky and Frank Spencer, an American outlaw-turned-farmhand, kills Pete Foster. Enter Caprice. Almost six feet tall, with black stallion, flaming red hair, long legs, and a lethal bullwhip, she sets out to avenge her brother's murder. Caprice leaves an indelible impression on the people she encounters: Gert, the whore with a heart of gold; Gert's son, for whom she provides affirmation, and not the least Frank Smith, her lover, a teacher and amateur baseball player who wants her to leave the law enforcement to the professionals and marry him.

About this title

About the Author

George Bowering taught English at Simon Fraser University from 1972 until his retirement in 2001. Canada's first Poet Laureate, he is an Officer of both the Order of Canada and the Order of British Columbia. He was one of the founders of the poetry publication Tish, served as and has received two Governor General's awards: the first, for poetry, in 1969 for The Gangs of Kosmos and Rocky Mountain Foot and the second, in 1980, for Burning Water, reissued by New Star in 2007. Bowering is well-known for his love of baseball, about which he has also written. He is the author of nine novels, five books of short stories, and numerous volumes of poetry, including Autobiology (New Star Books, 1972). Bowering has said he writes about history because it is "so damned interesting." In September, he trekked to New York to watch the Yankees play their final series at Yankee Stadium.

From Publishers Weekly

Twice a recipient of Canada's Governor-General's Award, Bowering sets his new novel in western Canada 100 years ago, where a young woman named Caprice sets out to avenge the killing of her brother. Nearly six feet tall and red-headed, Caprice rides her black stallion to Mexico and back, never far behind the murderer. Wherever she goes, people are struck by her beauty, her unconventional behavior and her skill at handling a bull whip. She is not necessarily happy on her mission but nevertheless withstands the importunings of her lover, a teacher and amateur baseball player, to marry him and leave retribution to the provincials and the Mounties. Minor characters fill out this intentionally overblown Western, not the least of whom are an old Indian shaman and his protege who, observing Caprice, conduct a discourse worthy of an analyst's office. Caprice is larger than life, a heroine to match all the genre's heroes. Bowering writes with wit and authority, but his novel is still a spoof, an inadequate format for the vivid and memorable characters he creates.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: New Star Books
• Publication date: 2010
• ISBN 10: 1554200539
• ISBN 13: 9781554200535
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 280