HOW WE GOT GOING

Dominion: The Railway and the Rise of Canada by Stephen R. Bown, Doubleday, $39.95. You have to know the past to understand the present, said Carl Sagan. To understand the Canada of today, our political issues, economy, foreign policy successes and failures, one must know their roots. In The Company, Stephen R. Bown brought to life the origins of Canada’s fur trade and how the rise of the venerable Hudson’s Bay Company is inextricably intertwined with the creation of this modern First World nation.

In Dominion he continues with the epic story of how Canada became a singular entity from the Atlantic to the Pacific with the building of the Canadian Pacific Railway.

In the late 19th century, demand for fur was in sharp decline. The business and political circles in Ottawa and Montreal realized that the far-flung British colonies must be stitched together if Canada were to survive as a nation. An overland journey from Ottawa to Victoria in those days would take many months to accomplish, and the fastest route was through the United States where railway lines already crisscrossed the states. Even mail deliveries depended on using American trains and services.

It was an easy decision to make. But making it real was another story. It needed money, manpower, and political will.

The building of the Canadian Pacific Railway involved over 3000 kilometres of track, much of it through wild, inhospitable terrain. It was a time of greed and hubris, corruption and oppression.

Bown’s thrilling account gives the reader an IMAX view of the treaties signed with Indigenous Peoples; land speculation; insiders who traded information and made fortunes; labourers who were exploited and underpaid while working in horrific conditions; the hardships of engineers and surveyors who defied the odds; and politicians whose careers depended upon the successful completion of the line.

In the end, it was longest railway in the world and the most difficult to build.

At a time when some Canadians wish to revisit Canada’s history through the narrow lens of present-day political correctness, Dominion widens the view with a revealing portrayal of the powerful forces that have moulded the creation of this nation.

Read before you judge.

AND SO IT BEGINS

By TAPAS EASWAR

Prequel by Rachel Maddow, Crown, $42. Where do I begin?

This is the first of Rachel Maddow’s books that I’ve read, and it’s quickly become something that I not only can’t stop thinking about, but also something that I can’t stop talking about.

Maddow presents a historical story of the people, politicians, right-wing intellectuals, and titans of industry (of which there are many) who took the side of fascist movements and Nazi Germany before and during WWII. It’s expertly woven, highlighting the rising tide of antisemitism, and the people that amplified it; something that Adolf Hitler's already sophisticated propaganda, media, and marketing machine took note and advantage of.

From the stark divide between liberalism and extreme conservatism to nationalism and everyone else, the story Maddow tells has many parallels with modern-day America but is done in such a way that they intermingle and bring to mind stories ripped from the headlines of 2015-2023 without pounding us over the head. The tendrils of authoritarianism and fascist movements run deep and wide in the US, and as such, Trump, and his MAGA movement, are not anomalies.

He is the mere result of decades of far-right threats, learning from the same “America First” and isolationist groups that sprung up in the 1930s and 40s finally coming to fruition.

Those same groups evolved to co-opt and take over the GOP, and are now finally able to enact their vendetta against the very ideals and fundamentals that uphold democracy and its institutions.

In some ways, the end is dissatisfying, because what we want are heroes and vanquished villains. Instead, we get a true, unvarnished version of an untold history; a history that doesn’t end nor simply disappear quietly into the night. And as long as we’re unable to tell fascism from democracy, we get a history that continues.

LAW AND DISORDER

The Mistress of Bhatia House by Sujata Massey, SOHO, $36.95. Has anyone noticed how female mystery writers are increasingly writing about issues, tying their stories not just to crime but to thinking and mindsets?

Louise Penney, Harini Nagendra and Sujata Massey all tackle societal issues and biases and prejudices of the day.

The Mistress of Bhatia House is another unconventional whodunit that is as much about the prevailing social conditions of the day and age as it is about a dead body. In fact, in it, a dead body is first mentioned on page 171 of the 414-page book!

The next in the engaging Perveen Mistry series, it is set in Bombay of the of 1920s in which child mortalilty is high, birth control is unavailable and very few women have ever seen a doctor.

“Tuberculosis, dysentery, cholera and malnutrition. And they arrive into our world with a physical weakness that stems from growing inside the belly of a child mother.”

A world where very few take a female lawyer seriously. Where bar associations deny them membership.

Sujata Massey, who based Perveen Mistry on India’s first female attorney, also shares details of how many of the Indian laws – many of which persist to this day – came to be under the British raj.

It’s a delicious trip down the lanes of a city many of us think we know well, in a time when Black Forest cake was a novelty and ice a luxury.

For those who have been following the budding romance between Perveen and Colin Sandringham, there are developments on that front, too!

LIAR, LIAR

Tremors in the Blood by Amit Katwala, Crooked Lane Books, $24.99. As new forms of lie detection gain momentum today, Tremors in the Blood traces the history behind the creation of the polygraph, exploring shocking murders, high-stakes courtroom drama, and the trials and tribulations of a set of characters who gave their all to define the meaning of truth. 

RIPPLE EFFECTS

The Wind Knows My Name by Isabel Allende, Ballantine Books, $37. Intertwining the past and the present, this book traces the ripple effects of war and immigration – on one child in Europe in 1938 and another in the US in 2019.

Two unforgettable characters, both in search of home, it’s a testament to the sacrifices that parents make and the children who survive the most unfathomable dangers and never stop dreaming.

KEEP YOUR FRIENDS CLOSE

Best of Friends by Kamila Shamsie, Riverhead Books, $37. Zahra and Maryam have been best friends since childhood in Karachi.

They never speak of the differences in their backgrounds or their values, not even after a fateful night of adolescent impulse. Three decades later, they are powerful women, each following her distinctive path. But when troubling figures from their past resurface, they must finally confront their differences to find out if their friendship will survive the forces that bring it to a breaking point.

HOMECOMING

Tell Her Everything by Mirza Waheed, Melville House, $38.99. I did it for the money. So starts the book in which a father is preparing for a visit from his long-estranged daughter.

He has spent much of that time anticipating her visit, and rehearsing what he will tell her. And how and how much. A visceral novel about a medical professional grappling with remorse over choices he made, and why.

Fans of Mirza Waheed’s The Book of Gold Leaves will love it.

SMOKESCREEN

Firebrand by Joshua Knelman, Allen Lane, $34. A young lawyer is recruited to work for an unnamed multinational company. It’s only during the second interview that he learns that the company produces cigarettes.

Overt the next decade, he travels the world, helping to successfully market cigarettes. A compelling behind the scenes look at Big Tobacco based on conversations with someone, who, like the protagonist of the book worked in the tobacco industry as legal counsel. Conversations that stretched over 10 years.

In his author’s note, Knelman writes: “Names have been changed, but the truth remains. As someone who has smoked tens of thousands of cigarettes, I wanted, it turned out, to know more about the thing that may kill me. Who wouldn’t, I guess?” 

THE CAT’S MEE-ACKS

Kitty Language by Lili Chin, Ten Speed Press, $22. While it’s obvious who the book will be a hit with, all animal lovers would find the illustrations and information delightful.

Specially the difference between signals dogs and cats send. To wit:

A dog with his ears to the side and a thumping tail is a happy dog, while a cat with the same is asking to be left alone. And for those who think a cat meeows and that’s it, there’s this: Domestic cats can make more than one hundred different sounds. Including Meeeh! Aaaow! Mee-ack! and Rraah rraah!

MAGIC IN OUR LIVES

Bompa’s Insect Expedition by David Suzuki, illustrated by Qin Leng, Greystone Kids, $23.95. Bumblebees, dragonflies, monarch butterflies, ants, mosquitoes... Nakina and Kaoru discover a whole word of insects with their Bompa.

They learn about the many ways in which insects add magic to our lives. And that humans are incredible creatures, too, and can make things better.

OUT THERE

Space Activity Lab, DK, $26.99. Whooshing rockets, edible meteorites, lunar rovers... this book is packed with fun hands-on projects that explore the mysteries of the universe!

TEEN REVIEW

By SEERUT CHEEMA

Stepsister by Jennifer Donnelly, Scholastic, $23.99. Stepsister by Jennifer Donnelly takes the stories of Cinderella’s evil stepsisters and gives them a new life. Specifically how Isabelle goes from being an evil stepsister to being the hero who saved the Kingdom from ruin.

I’m a sucker for stories that reinvent the villains of classic fairytales and Stepsister is no exception.

The problem with the portrayal of princesses in fairytales is that they’re portrayed as perfect beings. Incapable of envy, hate, etc. Which is what makes princesses a little boring in all honesty. However, Cinderella breaks this mould. She does things out of jealousy and that is what makes her character all the more interesting. She’s human and makes mistakes which is such a breath of fresh air.

Now, self-loathing and not being comfortable in your skin are issues that everybody has dealt with at some point in their lives. This book is a great read for people who don’t feel happy with their bodies.

Seeing Isabelle’s progression from an insecure girl to a confident woman is so inspiring and wonderful.

Jennifer Donnelly has truly outdone herself and there’s so much to her novel that makes it a wonderful book to read. Especially when you’re feeling insecure about yourself.                   

• Seerut Cheema is a youth volunteer at Brampton Library.