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Title details for Shadow Life by Michael Decter - Available

Shadow Life

by Michael Decter
ebook
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In one minute, delivering a not guilty verdict at the end of the trial for a disturbing murder of a child, Matthew Rice's life begins to unravel. The very structures his life is built upon start to collapse. Matthew retreats to Quarry Island in Georgian Bay, where he loses his wallet in a boating mishap. Among the pieces of identification he needs to replace is his birth certificate, but he's informed it's not on file. His birth certificate was a forgery. Not only have the foundations of his life given way, his very identity is shattered. Matthew learns that the woman who raised him was his father's second wife, and that his real mother died when he was a baby. What began as a search for a replacement for his birth certificate becomes a search for a woman who was a trailblazing journalist. His search takes him on a journey to Sydney, Australia, Boston, and Dublin; it results in the possession of the journals his mother kept up to her dying days in 1952. These entries are a window into a fascinating woman and a distant time not so different from our own. Still unsure of his place in a world that has changed in ways he has difficulty completely understanding, he returns to Quarry Island in Georgian Bay, where he stocks up on books and a case of good Scotch to sit out the end of his world as he knew it. But fate has more in store for Matthew than he can understand.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    August 20, 2022

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Read

      • ISBN: 9781770866683

    • EPUB ebook

      • ISBN: 9781770866683
      • File size: 605 KB

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • Kirkus

      In this novel, a man learns the story of his heritage following a stressful murder trial. Matthew Rice is in a Toronto court, the foreman of a murder trial jury. Against all his personal beliefs, Matthew tells the judge that the jury could not reach a verdict, which results in a mistrial. This decision goes on to haunt Matthew. The fact that the defendant, Henry Dawson, is cleared of the charges of murdering a child settles over Matthew like a suffocating blanket, particularly when another kid is killed two weeks later. Needing help with his mental health, Matthew begins seeing a psychiatrist. Then, after losing his wallet, he tries to attain a copy of his birth certificate only to learn that the record of his birth in Canada is messier than he realized. Upon learning that the woman who raised him did not give birth to him, Matthew begins a journey of self-discovery as he travels to Australia to learn about his biological mother. Later, he flies to Ireland to discover more about his heritage and acquire his birth mother's diary. Decter's smoothly written story is a bit all over the place. Initially, it appears to be the tale of a man who is fed up with the sociopolitical climate of Canada: "The tectonic plates of his beliefs and Toronto's civic realities ground against each other." Matthew is also doomsday-oriented, hoarding propane tanks and liquor for when the country disintegrates. The author seems to be gearing up to make his protagonist's distress regarding the mistrial a striking example of a broken judicial system, fueling Matthew's disdain. But then the story rapidly shifts its focus to Matthew's upbringing and his birth mother, which are compelling elements. Unfortunately, readers will feel as if the book morphed into a different novel when they weren't looking. Additionally, there are a lot of passages that concentrate on Matthew driving his boat--which are intriguing but puzzling. A family tale with engaging prose but an undisciplined plot.

      COPYRIGHT(2022) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. (Online Review)

Formats

  • OverDrive Read
  • EPUB ebook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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