Elizabeth Hay has been a finalist for the Governor General’s Literary Award twice, for her novels Small Change and Garbo Laughs. She received the Scotiabank Giller Prize for her 2007 novel Late Nights on Air about her time as a radio broadcaster in Yellowknife. Born in the small town of Owen Sound, Ontario, Hay spent much of her early life traveling and writing. She’s lived in England, New York City and Mexico but returned to Ontario to settle down with her husband and two children. His Whole Life, the book she will be presenting at Wordfest, has been nominated for the 2015 Rogers Writers’ Trust Fiction Price.

His Whole Life

Starting with something as simple as a boy who wants a dog, His Whole Life takes us into a richly intimate world where everything that matters to him is at risk: family, nature, home. At the outset, 10-year-old Jim and his parents are on a journey from New York City to a lake in eastern Ontario during the last hot days of August. What unfolds is a captivating story that spans a few pivotal years of his youth. Moving from city to country, summer to winter, wellbeing to illness, the novel charts the deepening bond between mother and son even as the family comes apart.

Wordfest review by volunteer Rita Gore

Maclean’s review

Toronto Star review

Globe and Mail review

CBC Books: On back-seat inspiration and Jane Austen’s ghost