Provisionally Yours

Description

AS HEARD ON CBCS THE NEXT CHAPTER WITH SHELAGH ROGERSAfter World War I and the collapse of Czarist Russia, former counterintelligence officer Justas Adamonis returns to Lithuania, a fragment of the shattered Empire. Hes not entirely sure what hell find. His parents are dead, he hasnt seen his sister since she was a teenager, and Kaunas has become the political center of the emerging state. Hes barely off the train when hes recruited back into service, this time for the nascent government eager to secure his loyalty and experience. Though the administration may be new, its problems are familiar, and Adamonis quickly finds himself ensnared in a dangerous web of political corruption and personal betrayal. Antanas SileikasProvisionally Yoursis a vivid depiction of realpolitikas well as an unforgettable story about treachery and the enduring human capacity for love.Praise forProvisionally YoursTimelyin the tradition of the Cold War spy and espionage novels of writers such as John Le Carr or even Graham Greenea finely honed political thriller.Toronto StarSileika humorously portrays the bureaucratic bungling and missteps among those competing for powerWe are the trash men, Landa observes, and no one wants trash but no one respects the people who take it out. Readers curious about the small Baltic country and a key period in its history will be rewarded.Publishers WeeklyA perfect calibration of pace and depth, a lucid, stylish and bittersweet chronicle of a countrys rebirth, and a thriller that is also a meditation. I loved this novel.Samantha Harvey, Man Booker-nominated author ofThe WildernessandThe Western WindOffers the delightful unearthing of a little-known corner of the worldpost-war Lithuania. Espionage, illicit love, bureaucratic bungling, marvelous descriptions of food and drink, strong women, desperate men. And subtle humour. And ultimately sadness, brought on by amorality in the struggle for power. A fine read.David Bergen, Scotiabank Giller Prize-winning author ofThe Time in BetweenSileika is a master at portraying moral ambiguity. Set in an overlooked corner of Eastern Europe,Provisionally Yourshas the gritty realism of a noir and the pacing of an espionage thriller.Nino Ricci, author oftheLives of the SaintstrilogyProvisionally Yoursmoves swiftly through its well-orchestrated plot, with Sileika deftly integrating just enough historical detail.Quill and QuireBrings to life a time and place that many readers will not be familiar withan engaging novel of espionage.Creemore EchoPraise for Antanas SileikaHow are we going to survive unless we turn our hearts to stone? a comrade warns the hero of Antanas SileikasUnderground. The question is an example of the elegant thinking that characterizes this rare and compelling chronicle.Globe and MailSileikas novel is a gripping tale, and the fate of Lukas how long his luck runs engages the reader to the last page.National PostSileika writes with a spare style that suits the action sequences as well as the rare moments of tenderness or humour. Entertaining and sometimes shocking, the book describes a little-known period of European history that has been kept underground far too long.Montreal GazetteSileika vividly brings this little-known (to us) and very sad chapter of European history alive.Toronto StarEvocative, unfailingly honest, and dead-on funny.Miriam ToewsThe memories have been vividly, deliberately shaped by a master storyteller over a lifetime of telling, to powerful and often hilarious effect. . . This is a memoir with the dull bits removed, and the remaining highlights polished to a bright shine.Quill & Quire(starred review)Some essays are quietly humorous; some, particularly toward the end, are melancholy. All are thoughtful and heartfelt.Toronto StarSileika, who in July retired from his long-time post as director of the Humber School for Writers, is first and foremost a storyteller. His memoir does not impart a strong sense of chronology; what it does do is leave the reader with vivid impressions of the writers life, written largely in a wry, unsentimental style. A kind of truth.Globe and MailThe Barefoot Bingo Calleris evocative, unfailingly honest, wry and dead-on funny! A masterful piece of writing like being entertained on a summer night by your closest and most charming friend.Miriam Toews, bestselling and award-winning author ofAll My Puny SorrowsandA Complicated KindnessA wonderful book, worthy of Leacock. Funny and wistful, always engaging and wholly original,The Barefoot Bingo Callercharts the geography of belonging from the suburbs of Weston to the streets of Vilnius, from iconic Parisian bookstores to secret fishing holes in the backwoods of Ontario.Will Ferguson, Giller prize-winning author of 419 and three-time winner of the Leacock Medal for HumourThe Barefoot Bingo Callersoars in its descriptions of a boys childhood and perfectly conveys with humour and aplomb the push and pull of the identity of an immigrant in a new land.Catherine Gildiner, author ofToo Close to the FallsRisky and refreshing These days, literary memoirs, in particular, tend to narrow in on a single, significant event or moment in time.The Barefoot Bingo Callerinstead provides an overview of its narrators entire life and does so to its advantage.Literary Review of Canada