Die with Me, Lady
Ronald Cocking
Toronto: Harlequin, 1953
224 pages
This review now appears, revised and rewritten, in my new book:The Dusty Bookcase:A Journey Through Canada'sForgotten, Neglected, and Suppressed WritingAvailable at the very best bookstores and through
I just have one thing to say:
ReplyDelete"Sugar-Puss on Dorchester Street"
Knuckles G.
Yes, Sugar-Puss on Dorchester Street. You can read my take on the book here. After sixty-plus years out-of-print it'll be back this April. More here.
DeleteI know you won't be able to resist, Knuckles.
Too bad that went downhill so fast.
ReplyDeleteIt's been a long time since I was so disappointed by a novel, John. The opening easily ranks as one of the best and most striking in post-war Canadian noir.
DeleteFortunately, they're not re-printing it under the title "Sugar-Puss on Boulevard René Lévesque"
ReplyDeleteKnuckles G.
To someone from Detroit, Toronto seems like a world-class city.
ReplyDeleteI think present-day Toronto and the Toronto of the 'fifties are in so very many respects polar opposites. It's now a better city, despite being saddled with a buffoon as mayor.
DeleteHere's to Nathan Phillips!
I had the book on my short Harlequin reading list but not any more. Thanks for the save.
ReplyDeleteTerrific picture of 50s Bay street. I was there last year and took a similar picture.
Oh, dear. Can I encourage you to read the first two chapters? Thirteen pages of the finest Canadian post-war noir you could hope to find. Things start to go down in chapters three and four, before entering a tailspin in chapter five, the appropriately titled 'We Write Our Own Destinies, Mr. Morley'.
DeleteNice that Old City Hall still stands, surviving the best efforts of the Eaton family.