Congratulations on the publication of RABBIT RABBIT RABBIT by Nadine Sander-Green publishing today from House of Anansi Press!
A woman’s coming-of-age through a toxic relationship, isolation, and betrayal—set against the stark landscape of the far north.
Millicent is a shy, 24-year-old reporter who moves to Whitehorse to work for a failing daily newspaper. With winter looming and the Yukon descending into darkness, Millicent begins a relationship with Pascal, an eccentric and charming middle-aged filmmaker who lives on a converted school bus in a Walmart parking lot. What begins as a romantic adventure soon turns toxic, and Millicent finds herself struggling not to lose herself and her voice.
Events come to a head at Thaw di Gras, a celebration in faraway Dawson City marking the return of light to the north. It’s here, in a frontier mining town filled with drunken tourists, eclectic locals, and sparkling burlesque dancers, that Millicent must choose between staying with Pascal or finally standing up to her abuser.
In the style of Ottessa Moshfegh’s honest exploration of dysfunctional relationships, and with the warmth and energy of Heather O’Neill, Rabbit Rabbit Rabbit illuminates what it’s like to be young, impulsive, and in love in one of the harshest environments in the world.
Praise for RABBIT RABBIT RABBIT:
“With Rabbit Rabbit Rabbit, Nadine Sander-Green has written a wonderfully compelling novel about a young newspaper reporter who strives to form a meaningful bond with the people and politics of Yukon, while struggling to break free from a toxic man. I rooted and prayed for Millicent, the young protagonist, every step of the way. A rich rendering of Whitehorse and Dawson City, and of courage in the face of love gone wrong.” —Lawrence Hill, author of The Book of Negroes and The Illegal
“Rabbit Rabbit Rabbit is an emotionally affecting, entirely believable portrait of a strong young person succumbing to and nearly losing herself in someone else. In its skilful braiding of the personal, the political, and even the ecological, this is a meditation on the potentially devastating effects of power and control.” —Gil Adamson, author of The Outlander and Ridgerunner
“An engaging debut novel. Filled with flawed and fascinating characters, Nadine Sander-Green’s coming of age story in the Yukon is a moving tale of how we experience harm—in human relationships, in politics, and on the land—and how we begin to move towards recovery and repair.” —Alix Ohlin, author of Dual Citizens and We Want What We Want
“I love Nadine Sander-Green’s decision to send a novice reporter to the Yukon. What is Millicent escaping, and what does she hope to find? This ain’t Jack Nicholson exposing the underbelly of Chinatown—but something similar occurs, though what’s uncovered is more inchoate and inside us all: the threat of loss. And loss—of love and land—is always startling. The wonder of Rabbit Rabbit Rabbit is there’s room for an ending that makes sense of a friend’s words: ‘you’ve turned into someone I don’t know.’ The full gamut of life’s ironies is here, from the absence of tundra swans to the ubiquity of dirty bird hot chicken. Nadine Sander-Green has managed to create a wise and powerful novel out of an achingly present portrait of an urban north that lies within all of us.” —Michael Winter, author of Minister Without Portfolio
“Nadine Sander-Green writes with verve and clarity about life in the Yukon, a place not seen often enough on the page. We root for Millicent, a young reporter growing up fast, to find her agency, pull free of the vortex of her relationship, and take in the expansive complexities of life and land around her. Rabbit Rabbit Rabbit is a wise, exuberant, page-turning read.” —Catherine Bush, author of The Rules of Engagement and Blaze Island
“Rabbit Rabbit Rabbit is raw and exquisite. A haunting story about the claustrophobia inherent in obsession and loneliness, and one woman’s journey to find and create purpose. Sander-Green’s intimate, atmospheric prose invokes a setting both unfamiliar and bewitching that readers won’t soon forget.” —Deborah Hemming, author of Goddess and Throw Down Your Shadows
“For a shy, twenty-four-year-old woman, what could be more romantic, more adventurous, than moving to Whitehorse, getting a job on the local newspaper, and falling for an eccentric filmmaker who lives in a school bus—but a really nice school bus, with pots of fresh herbs? Nadine Sander-Green punctures that seductive trope by showing us how thin and wobbly the line can sometimes be, between an all-consuming love affair and an abusive relationship. In this vivid, truthtelling novel, Nadine Sander-Green keeps us on that line, right to the end.” —Marni Jackson, author of Don’t I Know You?
Nadine Sander-Green grew up in Kimberley, British Columbia. After living across Canada—in Victoria, Toronto, and Whitehorse—she now calls Calgary, Alberta, home. She completed her BFA from the University of Victoria and her MFA from the University of Guelph. In 2015, Nadine won the PEN Canada New Voices Award for writers under 30. Her writing has appeared in the Globe and Mail, Grain, Prairie Fire, Outside, carte blanche, Hazlitt, and elsewhere.
Nadine is represented by Samantha Haywood.
Congratulations Nadine!