The Castor's Choice - by Jeff Wilson (Paperback)

About the Book

In this comedic campus story, young, clever, and compassionate history professor John E. McDonald battles the freight of his name, a Gordian knot of confused paternity, and the terminal illness of his beloved brother as he searches for love and purpose amid competition for a prestigious sixteen-million-dollar academic prize.

Book Synopsis

"By turns heartfelt and humorous, thoughtful and fascinating, Wilson knows of what he writes, and he writes very well." -- Terry Fallis, two-time winner of the Stephen Leacock Medal for Humour

John E. McDonald believes himself to be very lucky indeed. A tenure-track professor who's been given the office once occupied by Lester B. Pearson, McDonald is admired for his take on Canadian history, which investigates the role played by Indigenous peoples and women, who made possible the exploits of the supposed "great men of history." McDonald's take is unorthodox, fresh, and challenging; it's more compassionate and inclusive. He's motivated in no small part to escape the long shadow of his bombastically conservative father.

Quickly, though, McDonald's world begins to unravel. He loses his office to another professor, his beloved older brother is beset with a health issue, and he begins a romance with an opera singer. Determined to make a new start, he leaves his tenure-track position at a large urban university to be a sessional in a smaller institution, where he's asked to participate in a competition, the prize for which is a sixteen-million dollar endowment for a chair in Canadian history.

With deft comic turns and strikingly touching moments, Jeff Wilson's The Castor's Choice touches the heart, the brain, and the funny bone.

Review Quotes

"This is a promising start for Wilson: a big, generally well-written, and deeply Canadian work of fiction. I look forward to reading his next effort, and I hope many readers enjoy this one."--John Oughton "The Seaboard Review"