Well, you win some, you lose some. Will Ferguson’s Giller Prize book, 419 was gripping from start to finish. The Shoe on the Roof—not so much.

The themes of this book were right up my alley—religion, science, psychotherapy. The characters were the problem. There were simply unlikeable. I couldn’t bring myself to care for any of them. The father of of the protagonist, in particular, was almost a caricature of a villain.

On the positive side, Ferguson’s writing is eminently compelling. Here’s an example:

New England in autumn. Blue skies. Air as crisp as a celery stalk snapped in two. A dry wind, stirring the trees. Leaves spiraling down: deep reds and unrhymeable orange, twirling on eddies, layering the streets. (9)

In just a few lines, you feel transported to Boston. Ferguson’s knack for descriptive writing and short chapters kept me reading to the end when the plot and characters let me down.

Ferguson, Will. The Shoe on the Roof. Simon and Schuster, 2017.