“Kim McCullough writes with such clarity and grace that the reader doesn’t so much enter these at once familiar and yet foreign worlds, as slips into them.  McCullough’s an emerging writer Canadians should be keeping an eye on.”

— Joseph Boyden, Author of The Orenda

REVIEWS and PRESS

REVIEWS/INTERVIEWS/PRESS

Review at Billings Gazette

Review at SPG Books

Interview with Ismaila Alfa on CBC Manitoba’s Up To Speed

CBC Manitoba profile (with special thanks to Sandy Thacker)

Out-of-town Writer Interview, by Ariel Gordon at the Jane Day Reader blog

Calgary Herald Profile by Eric Volmers

Interview with Jessica Kluthe

Interview, Calgary Herald Entertainment Blog, with Stephen Hunt

Interview with Michelle Barker

“McCullough’s greatest success is in the fullness with which she captures these teenagers and relays their attempt to survive in a world that is equal parts beautiful and brutal. The book veers into dark territory, including domestic violence, racism, and teen suicide. Through it all, McCullough manages to be simultaneously unflinching and gentle.”

–Angie Abdou, Author of The Canterbury Trail, in The Fernie Fix, November 2013 

“McCullough writes beautifully about the emotional devastation of loss, and the slow, faltering process of reconnection. The writing is clear and unsentimental, the setting isolated and wild, the characters likeable but flawed and very human.”

— Sonal Champsee, Contributor, Friend, Follow, Text

“Place is important in Clearwater.  In her descriptions of landscape, and how it mirrors the characters’ interior lives, there are moments in McCullough’s book that remind me of Laurence’s ‘The Loons.'”

Diana Davidson, Author of Pilgrimage, in The Coastal Spectator, September 2013

“The lake community in Clearwater is so richly imagined and detailed that I feel as if I have been there. The setting is integral to everything that happens in the novel, as important as the characters themselves. It’s not just a backdrop for the events; it is necessary to the events.”

— Tara Gilboy, Writer

Warning: if you pick up this book, clear your schedule and find a comfortable chair. You won’t budge until you’ve finished it. Kim McCullough has written a gripping tale of love and loss, family and friendship, with memorable characters and a tension-filled plot.

–Michelle Barker, Author of The Beggar King

MENTIONS AND LINKS

Wordfest’s New Year’s Recommendations blog post

“Family traumas fictionalized in The Pas” Winnipeg Free Press

“An Accomplished Debut Novel” Island Editions

“My Bookshelf is Groaning…” Victoria Bell