Going to Beautiful: Anthony Bidulka
It took me a while to get around to reading this book, and I am glad I finally did. It was a great experience for me. It was the 2023 winner of the Crime Writers of Canada Award for Best Crime Novel. It is a mystery, but the overarching story is about a man working through his grief after his husband of thirty years dies, and I found it very compelling. The mystery plot sort of sneaks up on you. The story starts out in Toronto, but it is set mostly in Saskatchewan.
After months of grieving the loss of his husband, Jake finds some information about where Eddie grew up while going through his papers. He decides to go to the town where Eddie lived and try to find more about his early life and why he left it behind. Baz, his transgender friend from Toronto, goes with him.
The town where Eddie grew up was Beautiful, in the province of Saskatchewan. Most members of the community are of Ukrainian descent. The town is dying; it has nothing to offer its youth. But the loyalties and relationships among the variety of residents still living there is inspiring, and they offer their friendship to Jake and his friend Baz. Two of my favorite characters are Chung, the owner of Ming’s Café, a gathering place in town, and Sister Genowefa, who is the last remaining nun at her convent. She is over 90 years old and when she dies, the beautiful convent will be sold.
Eddie never told Jake anything about the town of Beautiful or his family, and when he finally meets Eddie’s family, Jake is surprised to find out that Eddie had a twin brother. Gradually Jake gets to know more about Eddie’s family and truly appreciate the people in Beautiful. Along the way, he clears up some mysteries related to Eddie’s death.
This book was a magical read. It is hard to explain why I enjoyed it so much. The story was moving and uplifting without being maudlin. And I learned so much more about Saskatchewan.
I have only read one of the books in Bidulka’s Russell Quant private detective series, but now I am going to go back and read more in that series.
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