It's 1977. Seventeen-year-old Violet is left behind by her parents to manage their busy roadside antique business for the summer. Her restless older brother, Bliss, has disappeared, leaving home without warning, and her parents are off searching for clues. Violet is haunted by her brother's absence while trying to cope with her new responsibilities. Between visiting a local hermit, who makes twig furniture for the shop, and finding a way to land the contents of the legendary Vaughn estate, Violet acts out with her summer boyfriend, Dean, and wonders about the mysterious boneyard. But what really keeps her up at night are thoughts of Bliss's departure and the white deer, which only she has seen.
"All the Things We Leave Behind" is about remembrance and attachment, about what we collect and what we leave behind. In this highly affecting novel, Nason explores the permeability of memory and the sometimes confusing bonds of human emotion.
Reviews
All the Things We Leave Behind is full of sensory detail and evocative prose, and like its author, Riel Nason, is a gift to Canadian literature. From the cheerful Purple Barn antique shop, to the mystical boneyard deep in the woods, to a missing brother named Bliss, main character Violet carries us effortlessly through this lovely coming-of-age story not afraid to show its haunting side. — Karma Brown, author of Come Away with Me
Nason has written a tender and loving portrayal of one young girl grappling with absence in a world crowded with the past. Full of heart, honesty and beauty. — Brian Francis, author of Natural Order
Filled with strong characters and objects of forgotten desire — perfume bottles, tintypes, rabbit-eared chairs — Riel Nason’s All the Things We Leave Behind subtly unravels the mind’s delusions and the past’s seduction. Haunting, bittersweet. — Beth Powning, author of A Measure of Light
"Obviously, she is writing from the heart in All the Things We Leave Behind. That shows in the care she takes creating the characters and respecting the readers’ with her fine writing and choice of words. Like any great summer read, All the Things We Leave Behind will never truly be “left behind.” Readers will remember Violet and her summer alone long after summer’s end. -- Vancouver Sun
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"A powerful rumination on the universal aches of loss, existential dread and adolescence." -- Quill & Quire
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When you combine the supernatural elements, picturesque New Brunswick scenery and the novelty of the seventies, you get an altogether riveting story that readers will not want to put down. ... There are heartfelt moments, tear jerkers, and laugh out loud scenarios galore. It is beautifully written, with some excerpts sounding like they stumbled right out of a love sonnet. 5/5" -- The Baron
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"Nason's writing is memorable. ... This novel is a measure of beauty with which to compare with the other Canadian offerings of the summer now almost past." -- The Sun Times (Owen Sound)
"... the book itself is like a capsule, meant to be taken in and experienced. It is a vignette of sensations, and observations that in the end amount to a story, but its strength is in the richness of those individual moments." -- The East
"Highly Recommended ****/4" -- CM Magazine
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" ... a psychologically complex, carefully crafted piece of work that kept me consistently engaged and left me haunted." --The Winnipeg Review
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"The title of her second novel might well have been a discarded option for her debut; Riel Nason is back in familiar territory: the intersection between memory and identity, the line between mysticism and madness, and sibling bonds in a coming-of-age tale ... These are quiet novels. The swell of emotion rises slowly, steadily. They pull you under the surface hard and fast." -- Buried in Print
"Obviously, she is writing from the heart in All the Things We Leave Behind. That shows in the care she takes creating the characters and respecting the readers’ with her fine writing and choice of words. Like any great summer read, All the Things We Leave Behind will never truly be “left behind.” Readers will remember Violet and her summer alone long after summer’s end. -- Vancouver Sun
-
"A powerful rumination on the universal aches of loss, existential dread and adolescence." -- Quill & Quire
-
When you combine the supernatural elements, picturesque New Brunswick scenery and the novelty of the seventies, you get an altogether riveting story that readers will not want to put down. ... There are heartfelt moments, tear jerkers, and laugh out loud scenarios galore. It is beautifully written, with some excerpts sounding like they stumbled right out of a love sonnet. 5/5" -- The Baron
-
"Nason's writing is memorable. ... This novel is a measure of beauty with which to compare with the other Canadian offerings of the summer now almost past." -- The Sun Times (Owen Sound)
"... the book itself is like a capsule, meant to be taken in and experienced. It is a vignette of sensations, and observations that in the end amount to a story, but its strength is in the richness of those individual moments." -- The East
"Highly Recommended ****/4" -- CM Magazine
-
" ... a psychologically complex, carefully crafted piece of work that kept me consistently engaged and left me haunted." --The Winnipeg Review
-
"The title of her second novel might well have been a discarded option for her debut; Riel Nason is back in familiar territory: the intersection between memory and identity, the line between mysticism and madness, and sibling bonds in a coming-of-age tale ... These are quiet novels. The swell of emotion rises slowly, steadily. They pull you under the surface hard and fast." -- Buried in Print
