''Twenty-Six'' is the

debut novel A debut novel is the first novel a novelist publishes. Debut novels are often the author's first opportunity to make an impact on the publishing industry, and thus the success or failure of a debut novel can affect the ability of the author to p ...

by author Leo McKay, Jr., released in 2003. The book was a national bestseller in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

Twenty-Six
''bukowskiagency.com'', Retrieved May 20, 2008 and won the 2004 Dartmouth Book Award for

Fiction Fiction is any creative work, chiefly any narrative work, portraying individuals, events, or places that are imaginary, or in ways that are imaginary. Fictional portrayals are thus inconsistent with history, fact, or plausibility. In a traditi ...

.Dartmouth Book Awards Winners
, ''halifax.ca'', Retrieved May 20, 2008.

Plot summary

Set in the fictional town of Albion Mines,

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...

, the novel takes place against the backdrop of a

coal mine Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from ...

explosion that kills twenty-six miners, loosely based on the real-life

Westray Mine The Westray Mine was a Canadian coal mine in Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter ...

explosion of 1992. Like the real-life incident, the novel's ''Eastyard'' mine disaster has themes of government corruption and the greed of the mine operator. The story primarily revolves around the family of Ennis Burrows, a former union organizer, and his sons, Ziv - a college drop-out now working at the local

Zellers Zellers was a Canadian discount department retail chain and is currently a brand name owned by the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC). Founded in 1931 in London, Ontario, in later decades it was based in Brampton, Ontario. Zellers was acquired by HBC i ...

- and Arvel, a miner who has followed in his father's footsteps. Their stories and those of other supporting characters unfold from the novel's beginning with the mine explosion, and working backward to show how the tragedy has fundamentally changed each of their lives.

Reception

The novel received widespread acclaim from Canadian critics, and reached number 6 on

MacLean's Magazine ''Maclean's'', founded in 1905, is a Canadian news magazine reporting on Canadian issues such as politics, pop culture, and current events. Its founder, publisher John Bayne Maclean, established the magazine to provide a uniquely Canadian perspe ...

's best-sellers list less than a week after it was released. Canadian author Robert J. Wiersema wrote in the

Montreal Gazette The ''Montreal Gazette'', formerly titled ''The Gazette'', is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Three other daily English-language newspapers shuttered at various times during the second half of th ...

that it was one of the year's best novels - and stated that ''"...if you are able to read just a single piece of Canadian fiction this spring, it should be Twenty-Six"''.''One of the year's best'' by Robert J. Wiersma, ''The Gazette''. Montreal, Que.: May 24, 2003. pg. I.4 It was also awarded the 2004 Dartmouth book award for Fiction.

Trivia

* Albion Mines was the former name of the town of Stellarton, prior to its official incorporation in 1889. * While the book was entirely a work of fiction, there was one real life character who made an appearance. Danny Dykens was the local odd-jobs-man who came to clear the debris from the house of the protagonists. Dykens was a real resident of Stellarton's Red Row neighbourhood, and his real occupation was garbage removal. Dykens died in 2011, and in front of his coffin at his wake was proudly displayed a copy of the book, opened to the page where he was mentioned.

External links

Twenty-six
at the Bukowski Agency.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Twenty-Six (Novel) 2003 Canadian novels Novels set in Nova Scotia McClelland & Stewart books 2003 debut novels

Plot summary

Reception

See also

Trivia

External links

References