Why a Booktrail?
2000s: A young girl determined to escape the confines of her dysfunctional family
On the Shores of Darkness, There Is Light
What you need to know before your trail
Harriet is a prisoner of her own circumstances.
Her younger brother Irwin is ill and is constantly in and out of hospital meaning that her mother’s attention is largely focused on him. Her mother has a boyfriend but he’s unemployed. The father is out of the picture but when he does appear he can’t be bothered with his own flesh and blood
So Harriet sits at the middle of all this confusion and just wants to reach out and be loved. She finds refuge in her paintings and so spends hours painting away her grief and inner turmoil. She also loves to collect what her family call rubbish by scouring the streets and bins of Toronto looking for something she can turn into art.
What she would really like to do is to move away to a little cabin on her own and be safe in her very own world
Travel Guide
Toronto
The Shangrila apartment block is of course fictional but it represents the microcosm of people in the city and in Harriet’s young life
Algonquin Park
Lost Coin Lake is where Harriet dreams of : “Lost Coin Lake is isolated from road and canoe routes, and the marsh shorline is unsuitable for swimming. Nobody goes there. This makes it perfect”
Mattawa
She travels on the bus to here from Toronto. Mattawa means “Meeting of the Waters” in Algonquin language
Streetview Maps
A) ON - Algonquin Park
B) ON - Mattawa
Booktrail Boarding Pass Information: On the Shores of Darkness, There is Light
Author/Guide: Cordelia Strube Destination: Toronto Departure Time: 2000s
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