A day’s prospecting leads palaeontologist Anna Silowski to make an extraordinary discovery in a remote part of British Columbia. At the same time, the tensions below the surface of her successful career are exposed. Pushed towards breakdown, she finds herself unexpectedly dependent on high-school drop out Scott Macleod, and recruits him to help on the excavation of her find. Scott the excavation itself teeters on the edge of disaster. The Find is a compelling story about discovery, inheritance and fate, and a moving exploration of the possibilities that hide within a seemingly impossible relationship.
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“Kathy Page is one of our most daring writers. Once again she delivers a riveting, superbly paced novel of great complexity. Like a palaeontologist herself, she chisels away at the layers of a story that initially reads as a thriller, meticulously and precisely laying bare the tender love story underneath. If you don’t know Page’s work yet, she’s a find.” Caroline Adderson, winner of the 2006 Marion Engel Award, author of Pleased to Meet You, Sitting Practice and A History of Forgetting.
“Kathy Page reminds us what a novel can do that almost nothing else can: take elements as different as dinosaur hunting, landclaims, inherited disease, and abuse of power, and link them with grace and necessity. Above all, this is a love story of the rarest kind: one with something new to say.” Fred Stenson, Giller-nominated, award-winning author of eight novels, including The Trade & The Great Karoo.
Playing with genre is a feature of Page’s writing. Of Alphabet, she said: “Most crime stories are full of suspense, and end with the criminal being caught and incarcerated. Alphabet is about what happens after the sentence – no crimes, no chases – and I wanted it to be just as gripping.” In The Find she has combined an adventure story with a novel of ideas, and created something new: “What is the ‘real’ story here?” she asks. “Some readers may prefer one or the other aspect of the book, or think they do – and then be drawn into unexpected territory. For me, it’s a story about discovery, and all that means.”
“The Find offers the best of all worlds: descriptions that draw you in without distracting from the story, realistic characters who face difficult choices, and a complex plot that keeps you turning the pages until the very end—with the added bonus that it’s published on one of the greenest types of text paper available…” Full review at:
http://shereadsandreads.blogspot.com/2010/11/green-books-campaign-review-find-by.html
“The clash of conflicting desires, subterfuge, uncomfortable triangling and a profound difference in values with regard to the past, all keep us turning the pages… And the abundance of information about pterosaurs, archeology, native political struggles, academic rivalry, alcoholism and Huntington’s disease is woven into the story seamlessly, only adding to the pleasure of its satisfying, un-clichéd conclusion.” The Globe & Mail review of The Find
“Kathy Page crafts from unexpected resonances between a discovery of pre-historic remains and the unfolding of the life of the scientist, Anna, a compelling story of contemporary life and a quest to transmute our evolutionary inheritance of primitive emotions–ambition, lust, fear of death– into love and reason. The story—beautifully– inhabits the uncharted space between.” Marilyn Bowering, award-winning playwright, poet and novelist, author of What it Takes to be Human
“The Find is an intricate and suspenseful narrative that soars several times past haunting catastrophe, and lands with the skeletal grace of the winged prehistoric creature at its core. This is a book that stirs admiration for both the characters and their author.” Pearl Luke, Commonwealth Prize winner, author of Madame Zee and Burning Ground.
“Page delivers with The Find.“Driftwood review of The Find
“The Find is a book that absorbs you. You read each carefully thought out word. You read the descriptive passages with their clarity and intricate details. You become a part of the team and realize what a complex, yet amazingly realistic story Kathy Page has written….” Lethbridge Herald
“A thoughtful book. Much of the story turns on patterns of things not easily seen – the traces in the shale which may indicate the presence of the pterosaur, the patterns of deterioration and the gene markers which may demonstrate that Anna has the disease: patterns of small things which once discerned, point to a larger whole. There are, too, patterns of family history, and the patterns of conflict played out between First Nations and colonizers, and even, at a mundane level, between men and women…… G Cat’s Bookshelf review of The Find
“Mysteries bred in the bone…”Times Colonist review
Excerpt from The Find
Kathy Page introduces and reads from The Find:
Book club questions for The Find
Word Works interview with Kathy Page about the research and revision for The Find
Kathy Page talks about her work, including Alphabet and The Find, at Tallinn Summer School, 2009
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First, Kathy, you are a brilliant reader of your own work! I already knew that your writing is wonderful, but I was very struck at your Salt Spring Island launch with how well you present your material. There was a time when I would attend weekly readings at Harbourfront in T.O., and I know what a rare dual gift you have.
The Find sounds magical, and it struck me during the launch question-and-answer session: I wonder if Bones is the common theme in your novels? (The face, the knuckles on Alphabet’s cover, the dino … ) Pause. Just checked The Woman’s Dictionary of Symbols & Sacred Objects and it says “Bones have always been invested with various kinds of magical powers.”
May your next novel continue the magic and may The Find be found by many new readers.
Best wishes,
Cheryl
Dear Kathy,
I just finished reading “The Find” last night after 2 solid days/nights of inhaling this very, very interesting and complex story touching all kinds of different issues.
Since our son left home 5 years ago (he’ll be 23 in August), I have resumed reading like a maniac as I used to do prior to becoming a mother. And I read many different styles (although I am a fiction reader) and have many, many “favourite” authors!
Anyway, you are now on my Book List of favourite authors and I will be reading every single one of your books. Your style is clear, “easy” to read (by that, I mean it flows – if something is too much work for me to read by the end of Chapter 1, it’s a goner – I’ve had to read too many books in school and now, I only read what interests me and attracts me), taut, challenging, unique, and dark but hopeful in this story. I found it especially interesting because it takes place where we live and covers local/human topics of interest (Native Lands, health, relationships).
I will definitely be recommending this book and you, as an author, to all my friends!
Sincerely,
Linda R. Floyd, Salt Spring Island, B.C.