- The Globe and Mail
"Both hilarious and heart-breaking, and one of the most astonishing fictional debuts I have read . . . authentic and unforgettable."

- The National Post
"Unforgettable . . . her work is among the most noteworthy in the country."

- Quill & Quire
"A stellar first novel . . . both nightmarish and laugh-out-loud funny."

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Strange Heaven is tearfully hilarious, as funny and appalling as real life. Bridget Murphy, almost eighteen, has gone to Halifax from industrial Cape Breton, had her baby, and given it up for adoption. She's apathetic, the doctors decide, so they transfer her to the psych ward of the children's hospital. There, she's cooped up with five seriously disturbed teenagers and a flock of wan children.

Sent home for Christmas, Bridget faces domestic uproar. Her grandmother, Margaret P., raves and prays from her bed, banging the wall with her bedpan. Bridget's kind-hearted parents, Robert and Joan, also take care of Robert's mentally handicapped brother, Rollie. Joan's efforts to keep the lid on are no match for Robert's wild profanity, Margaret's dementia, and Rollie's efforts to join the fray.