I know I'm in a distinct minority - possibly a minority of one - but I just don't think it's that great a novel. Granted, it has some wonderful scenes and bits and pieces - but to my mind that is largely what it is, a pastiche that just doesn't hold together the way I want it to.

I speak as a great admirer of MacLeod's short stories; I've met the man; I've driven that route between Windsor and Toronto countless times; I've seen and met the Mexican migrant-workers; I've fiddled and drunk with Natives, French-Canadians, and Cape Bretoners; I'm half-Cape-Bretoner myself - but I don't feel it's a particularly strong novel. Sorry!

The 'greatest Atlantic Canadian novel of all time'? Nope. Maybe The Mountain and the Valley, by Ernest Buckler.