The opening lines of The Empress of Idaho , the powerful new novel from Edmonton writer Todd Babiak, set the stage for a devastating coming-of-age story, a novel of betrayal and abuse, and the lingering effects of both. It happens in an instant, a moment of first contact that will shatter lives, and create unthinkable futures: the moment 14-year-old Adam Lisinski first sees Beatrice Cyr. “The woman lowered herself from Marv’s pickup truck wearing the first pair of high-heeled shoes I’d ever seen touch Jefferson Street. That clarity doesn’t extend to Adam, however, and his victimization — from grooming through to the aftermath — is handled realistically and heartbreakingly. The immorality of the relationship is never in question, but Adam carries the scars, and a lingering affection for Beatrice, for decades.

Source: thestar April 30, 2019 15:00 UTC