Michael Redhill follows his acclaimed novel Martin Sloane with a masterful and haunting collection of short fiction that asks the question, what does it mean to be true? Fidelity probes the nature of temptation and desire, the ambivalence at the heart of our most intimate trusts, and the paradox of betrayal, which is that we cannot deceive others unless we have first deceived ourselves. In stories that range from the darkness of family silences to the hilarity of people caught in their own snares, Redhill shows how transgression often feels like something quite different—until it is too late. The vulnerabilities of Redhill's characters are our own: a business-trip affair leaves a man humbled in ways he could not have anticipated; a young lover discovers she does not understand what connects people to each other; a traveling salesman, in trying to remain friends with his ex-wife, keeps breaking her heart; and a teenager's shocking sexuality inflicts wounds on her family. With his subtle wit and unflinching attention to emotional detail, Redhill proves once again to be "a writer of considerable humanity and insight" (A. L. Kennedy).
Editorial Reviews
“Fidelity lives up to Redhill's own high standards. These are wonderful stores, polished, mature, fresh.” —Quille & Quire
“Art and life collide in [an] explosive debut. . . . Redhill’s language is masterful; imagery and metaphor rise organically out of each event and picture. . . . The pacing of the writing is marvellous, and conscious of the heaviness of history.” —The Globe and Mail
“Redhill’s book, not unlike the later stories of Henry James, is a work of fiction in which thoughts speak more loudly than words and the distinction between art and life is the story’s real mystery.” —The San Francisco Chronicle
“Michael Redhill’s first novel seems destined to become a small classic, one of those books handed from friend to friend. . . . With this luminous, wonderful book, Michael Redhill highlights the complexities of human relationships in profound and unexpected ways.” —Books in Canada
About the Author
Michael Redhill is the author of four poetry collections, Asphodel (1997) and Light-crossing (2001). As a playwright, his most recent works are Doubt and Building Jerusalem, winner of the 2000 Dora Award for Outstanding New Play and finalist for the 2001 Governor General’s Award. He is one of the editors of Brick, a literary magazine. His novel, Martin Sloane, was shortlisted for The Giller Prize, The Trillium Award, The Books in Canada/Amazon.com First Novel Prize, the City of Toronto Book Award, and it won the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize for Best First Book, Canada/Caribbean.
