{"product_id":"bellevue-square-isbn-9780385684859","title":"Bellevue Square","description":"\u003cb\u003eFrom Giller Prize-winning author Michael Redhill comes a literary thriller about a woman who fears for her sanity—and then her life—when she learns that her doppelganger has appeared in a local park.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eJean Mason has a doppelganger. She's never seen her, but others swear they have. Apparently, her identical twin hangs out in Kensington Market, where she sometimes buys churros and drags an empty shopping cart down the streets, like she's looking for something to put in it. Jean's a grown woman with a husband and two kids, as well as a thriving bookstore in downtown Toronto, and she doesn't rattle easily--not like she used to. But after two customers insist they've seen her double, Jean decides to investigate.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eShe begins at the crossroads of Kensington Market: a city park called Bellevue Square. Although she sees no one who looks like her, it only takes a few visits to the park for her to become obsessed with the possibility of encountering her twin in the flesh. With the aid of a small army of locals who hang around in the park, she expands her surveillance, making it known she'll pay for information or sightings. A peculiar collection of drug addicts, scam artists, philanthropists, philosophers and vagrants—the regulars of Bellevue Square—are eager to contribute to Jean's investigation. But when some of them start disappearing, she fears her alleged double has a sinister agenda. Unless Jean stops her, she and everyone she cares about will face a fate much stranger than death.\u003cb\u003eWinner of the 2017 Scotiabank Giller Prize\u003cbr\u003e#1 National Bestseller\u003cbr\u003eLonglisted for the 2018 Toronto Book Award\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eA \u003ci\u003eGlobe and Mail\u003c\/i\u003e Best Book of 2017\u003cbr\u003eA\u003ci\u003e National Post \u003c\/i\u003eBest Book of 2017\u003cbr\u003eA CBC Best Book of 2017\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003eA Kobo Best Book of 2017\u003cbr\u003eA \u003ci\u003eNOW \u003c\/i\u003eMagazine Best Book of 2017\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"To borrow a line from Michael Redhill's beautiful \u003ci\u003eBellevue Square\u003c\/i\u003e, 'I do subtlety in other areas of my life.' So let's look past the complex literary wonders of this book, the doppelgangers and bifurcated brains and alternate selves, the explorations of family, community, mental health and literary life. Let's stay straightforward and tell you that beyond the mysterious elements, this novel is warm, and funny, and smart. Let's celebrate that it is, simply, a pleasure to read.\"  —The 2017 Scotiabank Giller Prize Jury \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"The opening chapters of this new opus, \u003ci\u003eBellevue Square\u003c\/i\u003e, stick closely to the grip-lit script: simple, compelling prose, sudden plot twists, looming violence and a female narrator who swiftly proves unreliable. But as the reader becomes more and more absorbed in the story, the book quietly becomes something else. Something mystifying and haunting and entirely its own. . . . Reading \u003ci\u003eBellevue Square\u003c\/i\u003e is as captivating as it is unsettling. . . . This modern ghost story . . . will not soon be forgotten.\" —\u003ci\u003eToronto Star\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"\u003ci\u003eBellevue Square\u003c\/i\u003e is something of a performance. . . . In its taut span of 262 pages, \u003ci\u003eBellevue Square\u003c\/i\u003e features several narrative and tonal hairpin turns. With each of these, our admiration for Redhill's storytelling dexterity burgeons. . . . I'd rather be lost in Redhill's ghost story than grounded in your average slab of tasteful literary realism.\" \u003ci\u003e—\u003ci\u003eThe Globe and Mail\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\"Described often as a dark, comic thriller, \u003ci\u003eBellevue Square\u003c\/i\u003e is packed full of themes keeping the reader a little off balance but always entertained.\" —\u003ci\u003eVancouver Sun\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Not since Paul Auster's \u003ci\u003eCity of Glass\u003c\/i\u003e has there been a novel this engaging about doppelgangers and the psychological horror they wreak. . . . As chilling as that stranger you're pretty sure has been following you all afternoon.\" —\u003ci\u003eThe Title\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\"[A] moving and beautifully written memoir.\" —CBC Books\u003cb\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\"There's a boldness to [\u003ci\u003eBellevue Square\u003c\/i\u003e] and, at its best, a genuine thrill.\" —\u003ci\u003eThe Walrus\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\"Sit yourself down in \u003ci\u003eBellevue Square \u003c\/i\u003eand watch as parallel worlds collide. Redhill has written a mind-blowing brainteaser of a novel with plot twists worthy of David Lynch. A brilliant tribute to those among us whose brains are wired differently.\" —Neil Smith, author of \u003ci\u003eBoo\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"By turns harrowing and mesmerizing.\" —\u003ci\u003e\u003ci\u003eQuill \u0026amp; Quire\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Even as we start doubting Jean we can’t stop loving her. Along the way, Redhill gives us a ton of twists and turns and makes Toronto one of the stars of the show.\" —\u003ci\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003ci\u003eNOW\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003eMICHAEL REDHILL is the author of the novels \u003ci\u003eMartin Sloane\u003c\/i\u003e, shortlisted for the Giller Prize and winner of the Books in Canada First Novel Award, \u003ci\u003eConsolation\u003c\/i\u003e, longlisted for the Man Booker Prize; and most recently, \u003ci\u003eBellevue Square\u003c\/i\u003e, winner of the 2017 Giller Prize. He has written a novel for young adults, six collections of poetry, and four plays, including the internationally celebrated\u003ci\u003e Goodness\u003c\/i\u003e. He has also written a series of crime novels under the name Inger Ash Wolfe, one of which, \u003ci\u003eThe Calling\u003c\/i\u003e, was made into a movie with Susan Sarandon and Donald Sutherland. He lives in Toronto, Ontario.My doppelganger problems began one afternoon in early April. \u003cbr\u003e     I was alone in the store, shelving books and humming along to Radio 2. Mr. Ronan, one of my regulars, came in. I watched him from my perspective in Fiction as he chose an aisle and went down it. \u003cbr\u003e     I have a bookshop called Bookshop. I do subtlety in other areas of my life. I’ve been here for two years now, but it’s sped by. I have about twenty regulars, and I’m on a first-name basis with them, but Mr. Ronan insists on calling me Mrs. Mason. His credit card discloses only his first initial, G. I have a running joke: every time I see the initial I take a stab at what it stands for. I run his card and take one guess. We both think it’s funny, but he’s also shy and I think it embarrasses him, which is one of the reasons I do it. I’m trying to bring him out of himself.\u003cbr\u003e     He’s promised to tell me if I get it right one day. So far he hasn’t been Gordon or any of its short forms, soubriquets, or cog­nomens. Not Gary, Gabriel, Glenn, or Gene and neither Gerald nor Graham, my first two guesses, based on my feeling that he looked pretty Geraldish at times but also very Grahamish, too. He’s a late-middle-aged ex-academic or ex-accountant or some­one who spent his life at a desk, who once might have been a real fireplug, like Mickey Rooney, but who, at sixty-plus years, looks like a hound in a sweater. There is no woman in his life, to judge by the fine blond and red hairs that creep up the sides of his ears.\u003cbr\u003e     I know he likes first editions and broadsides, as well as books about architecture and miniatures. I keep my eye out for him. And he’s a gazpacho enthusiast. You get all kinds. I always discover something new when Mr. Ronan comes in. For instance, you can make soup from watermelons. I did not know that. \u003cbr\u003e     He came around a corner and stopped when he saw me. He was out of breath. “There you are,” he said. “When did you get here?” \u003cbr\u003e     “To the Fiction section?” \u003cbr\u003e     “You’re dressed differently now,” he said. “And your hair was shorter.” \u003cbr\u003e     “\u003ci\u003eMy \u003c\/i\u003ehair? What are you talking about?” \u003cbr\u003e     “You were in the market. Fifteen minutes ago. I saw you.” \u003cbr\u003e     “No. That wasn’t me. I wasn’t in any market.” \u003cbr\u003e     “Huh,” he said. He had a disagreeable expression on his face, a look halfway between fear and anger. He smiled with his teeth. “You were wearing grey slacks and a black top with little gold lines on it. I said hello. \u003ci\u003eYou \u003c\/i\u003esaid hello. Your hair was up to here!” He chopped at the base of his skull. “So you have a twin, then.” \u003cbr\u003e     “I have a sister, but she’s older than me and we look noth­ing alike.” I don’t mention that Paula is certain that G. Ronan’s name is Gavin. “And I’ve been here all morning.” \u003cbr\u003e     “Nuh-uh,” he said. “No, I’m sure we . . .” He left the aisle. My back tingled and I had the instinct to move to a more open area of the store, where I could watch him. I went behind my cash desk and started to pencil prices into a stack of green-covered Penguin crime. I flipped up their covers and wrote 5.99 in each one, keeping my eye on my strangely nervous customer. Finally, he came out of the racks with \u003ci\u003eThe Conquest of Gaul \u003c\/i\u003eand put it down on my desk. \u003cbr\u003e     “Oh . . . Mr. Ronan? I wanted to tell you I found a pretty first edition of \u003ci\u003eMiniature Rooms \u003c\/i\u003eby Mrs. Thorne\u003ci\u003e. \u003c\/i\u003eOriginal blue boards, flat, clean inside. Do you want to see it?” \u003cbr\u003e     “Yes,” he said, like it hurt to speak. I brought it out from the rare and first editions case. “It’s just uncanny, it really is,” he said.\u003cbr\u003e     “This woman.” \u003cbr\u003e     “Yes! She said hello back like she knew me. I swear to god she called me by name!” \u003cbr\u003e     “But I don’t know your name. Right? Mr. \u003ci\u003eG\u003c\/i\u003e. Ronan? I think you dreamt this.” \u003cbr\u003e     “But it just happened,” he said, like that explained some­thing to him. “And you knew my name.” \u003cbr\u003e     “Mr. Ronan,” I said, “I am one hundred per cent—” \u003cbr\u003e     I didn’t like the look in his eye. He began edging around the side of the desk, coming closer, and I backed away, but he lunged at me with a cry and grabbed me by the shoulders. Despite his size, I couldn’t hold him off and he backed me up, hard, against the first editions case. I heard the books behind me thud and tumble. “Take it off!” he shouted in my face. With one hand, he tried to yank my hair from my head. “Take off the wig!” \u003cbr\u003e     “Get back!” I shrieked. I pushed against his forehead with my palm. “Get off me!” \u003cbr\u003e     “Goddamn you, Mrs. Mason!” When a fistful of my hair wouldn’t tear off, he leapt up and stumbled backwards, his eyes locked on mine, but washed of rage. The blood had drained from his face. “Christ, that’s real!” \u003cbr\u003e     “Yes! It’s real! See? Real hair attached to my own, personal \u003ci\u003ehead\u003c\/i\u003e.” \u003cbr\u003e     “Oh god.” \u003cbr\u003e     “What is \u003ci\u003ewrong \u003c\/i\u003ewith you?” \u003cbr\u003e     He grovelled to the other side of the desk. “Oh my god. I’m so sorry. I must be having another attack.” \u003cbr\u003e     “Another attack! Of what? Do you want me to call an ambulance?” \u003cbr\u003e     “I’ll be okay. I’m really sorry. I don’t know what came over me, Jean. Forgive me.” \u003cbr\u003e     That was the first time he had ever used my name. “You scared me. And you hurt me, you know?” I began to feel the pain seep through the shock of being battered. “Are you sure I can’t call a friend or someone?” \u003cbr\u003e     “No. I’ll go home and lie down. I’m just so sorry.” He took his wallet out and put his trembling credit card down on the cash desk. \u003cbr\u003e     I tapped it for him. We stood together in a dreadful silence until I said, “Gilbert.” \u003cbr\u003e     “No,” he replied.","brand":"Anchor Canada","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46304612810981,"sku":"NP9780385684859","price":16.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9780385684859.jpg?v=1767722413","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/products\/bellevue-square-isbn-9780385684859","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}