Looks like I’ve got a bit of a critical hit on my hands, if early reviews are any indication.
On the heels of The Prairie Book Reviews highly complimentary appraisal of Day of Epiphany in December, two more reviews have surfaced just in the past week that are putting wind in my sails.
On January 27th, @CANREADS published a five-star review that is not only deeply flattering, but more importantly indicated that the reviewer fully grasped the fundamental point behind the novel. In short, they “got it.”
Ultimately, Day of Epiphany is a masterful vehicle representing Quebec’s checkered past, unflinchingly exploring systemic abuse while delivering justice to those complicit in the harm. The suspense is palpable, making the novel nearly impossible to put down. With precision and empathy, Bourgault transcends historical fiction in Day of Epiphany, offering a haunting meditation on moral responsibility and accountability.
Chalk this up to a Canadian sensitivity? Possibly. That, at least was my first reaction. But then on January 31st, @IndieReader—based in Montclair, NJ—published their review, giving Day of Epiphany a 4.7 out of 5.0! Reviewer Craig Jones fully understood the book he was assessing, and even got into the nuts and bolts what makes the whole episode of the Duplessis Orphans at once so tragic and appalling:
Bourgault carefully and systematically damns the Catholic church and these orphanages more generally: the extreme hypocrisy of confession; the doublethink of claiming to care for the children of single women while accusing them of bringing sin on their institutions by their mere presence; the pressuring of “unwed mothers” to give up their children for adoption, a racket of the most heartbreaking kind; the simple expedient of transferring child rapists to other parishes when suspicion fell on them. The easy collusion with power in the guise of the local authorities during Maurice Duplessis’s tenure as premier of Quebec during the 1950s runs through the work like a mains wire, as does Sandra’s search for justice.
WOW!
While a few more reviews may come in during the coming weeks and months, more exciting still is award season is coming. Day of Epiphany has been entered into three so far — the Foreword INDIES Book of the Year Award, the Eric Hoffer Awards, and the IndieReader Discovery Awards —with several more coming before mid-year.
So I wrote this novel... 