''The Way the Crow Flies'' is the second novel by the Canadian writer and author

Ann-Marie MacDonald Ann-Marie MacDonald (born October 29, 1958) is a Canadian playwright, author, actress, and broadcast host who lives in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. MacDonald is the daughter of a member of Canada's military; she was born at an air force base near ...

. It was first published by

Knopf Canada Random House of Canada was the Canadian distributor for Random House, Inc. from 1944 until 2013. On July 1, 2013, it amalgamated with Penguin Canada to become Penguin Random House Canada. Company history Random House of Canada was established i ...

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

. The story revolves around a fictionalized version of the death of

Lynne Harper Steven Murray Truscott (born January 18, 1945) is a Canadians, Canadian man who was wrongly convicted and sentenced to death in 1959 for the rape and murder of classmate Lynne Harper. Truscott had been the last known person to see her alive. He w ...

, and the subsequent murder trial of Steven Truscott. The novel is set in the early 1960s predominantly at the

Royal Canadian Air Force The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF; french: Aviation royale canadienne, ARC) is the air and space force of Canada. Its role is to "provide the Canadian Forces with relevant, responsive and effective airpower". The RCAF is one of three environm ...

Station Centralia located in a small town near

London, Ontario London (pronounced ) is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada, along the Quebec City–Windsor Corridor. The city had a population of 422,324 according to the 2021 Canadian census. London is at the confluence of the Thames River, approximate ...

. In the story, the character Ricky Froelich, a

Métis The Métis ( ; Canadian ) are Indigenous peoples who inhabit Canada's three Prairie Provinces, as well as parts of British Columbia, the Northwest Territories, and the Northern United States. They have a shared history and culture which derives ...

foster child, is the fictionalized version of Steven Truscott.

Reception

''The Way the Crow Flies'' was nominated for the 2003

Scotiabank Giller Prize The Giller Prize (sponsored as the Scotiabank Giller Prize), is a literary award given to a Canadian author of a novel or short story collection published in English (including translation) the previous year, after an annual juried competition be ...

and for the 2004 Lambda Literary Awards. The

Book of the Month Book of the Month (founded 1926) is a United States subscription-based e-commerce service that offers a selection of five to seven new hardcover books each month to its members. Books are selected and endorsed by a panel of judges, and members ch ...

club selected it for distribution. Overall, the book received mostly positive reviews. In ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', Aida Edemariam wrote that "the novel is a thriller, too, as tightly wrought and formal as a Hitchcock storyboard, all the way to the sudden vertiginous surprise at the end". However, Edemariam stated, "MacDonald can be heavy-handed with the historical context, especially in the clunky first chapter". Edemariam concluded that "''The Way the Crow Flies'' is, in the end, moving and compulsively readable". Writing for the Canadian magazine ''

Quill & Quire ''Quill & Quire'' is a Canadian magazine about the book and publishing industry. The magazine was launched in 1935 and has an average circulation of 5,000 copies per issue, with a publisher-claimed readership of 25,000. ''Quill & Quire'' reviews ...

'', Bronwyn Drainie stated that "for the most part, this is an engrossing and ingeniously plotted portrait of a 'perfect' 1960s Canadian family coming to terms with all its imperfections". Drainie wrote that, while "the first three-quarters of ''The Way the Crow Flies'' are solid and captivating, the final quarter sa somewhat disappointing and navel-gazing denouement".

References

External links

Ann-Marie MacDonald official website

Publisher's official website

Ann-Marie MacDonald Bio
2003 Canadian novels Novels by Ann-Marie MacDonald Knopf Canada books Novels set in Ontario Novels based on actual events Canadian crime novels {{2000s-crime-novel-stub