This book has come highly recommended by a close friend -- now on my TBR pile.

Due Preparations for the Plague tells the story of twenty-nine year old Lowell Hawthorne, a divorced father of two living in Boston. The novel begins in September 2000, almost exactly thirteen years after Lowell’s mother was killed flying from Paris to New York (with the violinist for whom she had recently left Lowell’s father). Mrs. Hawthorne was killed in the terrorist hijacking of Air France Flight 64, and Lowell is having a difficult time with the approaching anniversary. He’s not alone. Another survivor, Samantha, has repeatedly tried to contact Lowell. When she does, she tells him that a woman in Paris, Françoise, thinks Lowell’s father knew about Flight 64, and that Françoise believes she is Lowell’s half sister.

The situation gets worse – and more intriguing – when on September 9, 2000 Lowell’s father dies in Washington DC of a massive heart attack. His death occurs four days short of the 13th anniversary of the destruction of Flight 64. Lowell's bereaved stepmother, Elizabeth, tells Lowell that prior to his death, his father – a former "spook" with a national intelligence agency who was ultimately pushed into early retirement -- was tormented by nightmares. The plot thickens when Lowell is contacted by Dr. Reuben, his father’s psychiatrist, who gives Lowell the key to a locker (#64) at Logan Airport, which Lowell's father had asked be passed on to Lowell after his death.

As an espionage novel, Due Preparations for the Plague is a great page-turner. It's more than that, too: a contemplation on how we heal following trauma, how children are affected by the violent death of a parent, and how a culture comes to grips with the threat of random terrorism. It's this last focus that stood in the way of my unqualified enjoyment of the novel, since I feel (in late 2004) so completely steeped in "the threat of terrorism" -- both the legitimate kind, and the trumped up, panic-mongering, vote-garnering kind. I feel badly for Janette Turner Hospital in this respect, since so many of the questions she raises -- while genuine and profound two years ago when the book was written -- have by now taken on an air of political manipulation.

You can read the Guardian's review of Due Preparations here. Due Preparations has been longlisted for the 2005 IMPAC Dublin Literary Award.

Released on Monday, November 22, 2004 at about 5:00:00 PM BX time (GMT-06:00) Central Time (US & Canada) at Tigh-Na-Mara Resort and Conference Centre in Parksville, British Columbia Canada.

RELEASE NOTES:

I'll be leaving Due Preparations for the Plague somewhere around Tigh-Na-Mara Resort and Conference Centre this afternoon. Maybe one of my colleagues will pick it up, since we're going there for a staff retreat. Happy reading!