The Hidden Keys - Softcover

Alexis, André

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1781258430 ISBN 13: 9781781258439

Publisher: Serpent's Tail, 2018

Synopsis

In the depths of the ill-reputed Green Dolphin bar in Toronto, Tancred Palmieri, a talented thief with extravagant tastes, encounters Willow Azarian, an aging heroin addict. She reveals to Tancred that her very wealthy father has recently passed away, leaving each of his five children a mysterious object that provides a clue to the whereabouts of a large inheritance. Willow enlists Tancred to steal these objects from her siblings and solve the puzzle.

A Japanese screen, a painting that plays music, an aquavit bottle, a framed poem, and a model of Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater ... Are these really clues, or has Tancred fallen victim to the delusions of a junkie?

Inspired by a reading of Treasure Island, The Hidden Keys questions what it means to be honourable and faithful in the face of desire.

About this title

About the Author

Andre Alexis was born in Trinidad and grew up in Canada. His debut novel, Childhood, won the Books in Canada First Novel Award, the Trillium Book Award, and was shortlisted for the Giller Prize and the Writers' Trust Fiction Prize. His previous books include Asylum, Beauty and Sadness, Ingrid & the Wolf, and, Pastoral, which was also nominated for the Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize. His last novel, Fifteen Dogs, won the prestigious Scotiabank Giller Prize, awarded annually to the best Canadian fiction book.

Review

This gorgeously written, funny adventure tale will keep readers up finishing it while also quietly breaking their hearts with Alexis's keen observations of people, kindness, and cruelty * Publishers Weekly, starred review * Spry... Impressive... I loved this smart, exuberant fantasy from start to finish * Guardian * Startlingly original... * Independent * Thought-provoking and moving * Good Housekeeping * Following his Rogers Writers' Trust-nominated Pastoral, protean novelist Andre Alexis returns to reclaim another almost-forgotten genre, the apologue (defined as an allegory in which animals adopt human consciousness. * Quill & Quire's Spring Preview *

Edition details

• Publisher: Serpent's Tail
• Publication date: 2018
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1781258430
• ISBN 13: 9781781258439
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 240