Mother's Genius [Paperback]

Set in the small town of Grenville, Ontario, a setting perhaps familiar to the reader from the author's previous novelCadillac Road, this story progresses from the 1950s through the 1980s. In 1940, five-year-old Martin Thorton fell from the family's apartment balcony, suffering catastrophic and permanent injuries. His accident plays a role in everything that happens afterwards -- his marginalization growing up a disabled person, his mother's guilt and unfailing devotion, his sister's alienation. Told from the point of view of his sister Gretchen, and his friend Donna, this is Martin's story.

Kristin Andrychuk, a longtime Kingston writer, has two published novels: The Swing Tree (Oberon 1996) and Riding the Comet (Oberon 2003). She has three times been the recipient of scholarships to attend the Banff Centres writing studios. Many of her short stories and poems have been published in literary magazines and anthologies. She is currently working on another novel.