Abstract

This work of prose fiction explores two eras of a woman's life through contrasting narratives, situated more than seventy years apart. The woman, May Markham, indirectly witnesses the murder of her neighbour, an undercover R.C.M.P. agent, and becomes embroiled in the ensuing investigation. The disturbance recalls another violent incident, in the early 192Os, in which young May's father was murdered by her troubled lover, Major Redpath. As the story from the past unfolds, it informs May's present while she copes with people and circumstances both new and familiar. She befriends Monique, a colleague and former partner of the dead neighbour, who is struggling with her own demons surrounding the case. Meanwhile, a well-intentioned yet naive young May is revealed: bound by duty, moved by genuine affection, caught in the despair of an impossible and dangerously unpredictable situation. When the contemporary narrative moves toward a similar danger, she simultaneously confronts a concrete threat and an elusive sense of self.