Overview

1963 - Finn Kenny fled Ottawa after being implicated in an RCMP purge of suspected Communist sympathisers and ""homosexuals"", ending up on Vancouver Island working for the Spencerwood Estate alongside devoted caretakers, the Bishops. Theodore Spencer was Finn's saviour, a barroom companion who offered him a way out of his predicament. But when Spencer dies suddenly, Finn's life is turned upside down as he's forced to work with the cold, calculating lady of the house. Thrown together unexpectedly, Finn, Lady Spencer, and the Bishops are faced with the worst of one another, as they struggle to keep the estate together. Learning more about each other's lives, they must come to terms with the truth that everyone has secrets buried at the centre of themselves. In his searching sixth novel, Danial Neil questions the stories we tell of our own lives, the version of ourselves we show to those closest, and the ways in which we are able to find common ground.

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9781774390788

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Reviews

"Praise for The Sum of One Man's Pleasure ""Danial Neil, a master storyteller, embraces the mysterious and the unpredictable. Through a host of characters who appear fated to destroy the lives of others, not to mention their own, he weaves several compelling plots into a tapestry of small-town Vancouver Island life."" -Ron Smith, author of Improbable Journeys and The Defiant Mind"

"Praise for The Sum of One Man's Pleasure ""Danial Neil, a master storyteller, embraces the mysterious and the unpredictable. Through a host of characters who appear fated to destroy the lives of others, not to mention their own, he weaves several compelling plots into a tapestry of small-town Vancouver Island life."" --Ron Smith, author of Improbable Journeys and The Defiant Mind"

Author Information

Danial Neil was born in New Westminster, British Columbia and grew up in North Delta. He began writing in his teens, journaling and writing poetry. He made a decision to be a writer in 1986 and took his first creative writing course in Langley with Alive magazine editor Rhody Lake. Danial worked steadily at his craft. His short story Grace was published in the 2003 Federation of BC Writers anthology edited by Susan Musgrave. He went on to participate in the Write Stretch Program with the Federation of BC Writers teaching free-verse poetry to children through the Delta Schoolboard. He won the poetry prize at the Surrey International Writers' Conference four times and studied Creative Writing at UBC. His poetry and fiction articulate a close relationship with the land, its felt presence in his narrative and vision. He has written twenty-two novels since beginning his writing journey. He is the author of The Killing Jars (Trafford 2006), Flight of the Dragonfly (Borealis Press 2009), My June (Ronsdale Press 2014), The Trees of Calan Gray (Oolichan Books 2015), Dominion of Mercy (NeWest Press 2021). The Sum of One Man's Pleasure is Danial's sixth published novel. In addition to having his novels celebrated for their wonderfully crafted characters, he was a contributor to poetry anthology Worth More Standing published by Caitlin Press in 2022. Danial lives in Nanaimo on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada.

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