About BC Books Online
BC Books Online was created for anyone interested in BC-published books, and with librarians especially in mind. We'd like to make it easy for library staff to learn about books from BC publishers - both new releases and backlist titles - so you can inform your patrons and keep your collections up to date.
Our site features print books and ebooks - both new releases and backlist titles - all of which are available to order through regular trade channels. Browse our subject categories to find books of interest or create and export lists by category to cross-reference with your library's current collection.
A quick tip: When reviewing the "Browse by Category" listings, please note that these are based on standardized BISAC Subject Codes supplied by the books' publishers. You will find additional selections, grouped by theme or region, in our "BC Reading Lists."
Description
Jack Hodgins, one of Canada’s favourite storytellers, has returned with a new tale in Cadillac Cathedral. In this story, situated on Vancouver Island, the literary home of many of his earlier books, Hodgins lovingly recreates the rural community of Portuguese Creek. It is here we meet Arvo, a Finn, who has worked in logging camps all his life and now spends his retirement rescuing abandoned cars to restore in his garage, where his loyal group of friends congregate to keep him company. When the group hears that an old friend has died, they decide to drive south to the big city to pick up the body. A road trip ensues—but not just any road trip, for it takes place in a Cadillac Cathedral, a remarkable hearse built in the 1930s, which Arvo has refurbished. Along the way, the friends encounter adventures that create detours into country life. We learn about the unusual marriages that keep couples apart and together. There is a winsome widow with her eye on Arvo, and another mysterious widow in the big city for whom Arvo appears to retain strong feelings. Here is Hodgins at his humorous best, capturing a timeless world that is yet very much of our time.
Editorial Reviews
“Hodgins returns to the small-scale stories and vivid characters of his earliest fiction . . . leavened with wry humour and everyday absurdity.” –National Post
“Hodgins’ gentle humour and sense of hope make Cadillac Cathedral an object lesson about what’s important in life for any age.” –Vancouver Sun
“Hodgins is a master taleteller and he’s never going to be caught dead with only one dish on his table. As always, his fictional Vancouver Island community and characters become large as life in all their laid-back and humorous detail.” –BC BookWorld
“A warm, gentle novel brimming with charcoal grey humour. . . . a sweet tale that often finds a Zen spot between funny and wistful.” –Quill & Quire
“A warm, gentle novel brimming with charcoal grey humour. . . . a sweet tale that often finds a Zen spot between funny and wistful.”—Quill & Quire
“Hodgins’ gentle humour and sense of hope make Cadillac Cathedral an object lesson about what’s important in life for any age.”—Vancouver Sun
“Hodgins is a master taleteller and he’s never going to be caught dead with only one dish on his table. As always, his fictional Vancouver Island community and characters become large as life in all their laid-back and humorous detail.”—BC BookWorld
“Hodgins returns to the small-scale stories and vivid characters of his earliest fiction . . . leavened with wry humour and everyday absurdity.”—National Post
