Appeared in the Comox Valley Record May 16th 2013
Comox Valley Author Colin Mallard has just won an award for his most recent book Stillpoint, a novel of war and peace. The book was a finalist in the US Indie Next Generation Book Awards in the category General Fiction/Novel.
Stillpoint, is a novel of war and peace, justice, love and hatred. It is a story about us, a human story.
It begins in Tel Aviv, ends in Washington, and spans three generations and two continents. It covers the fiery birth of the State of Israel, and what the Palestinians call the Nakba, the beginning of the great sorrow, when 800,000 of them were violently driven from their homes in a period of six months.
During this time of fire and violence we encounter people, ordinary people, people like you and me and in the process it dawns on us just what our connection is to the events taking place between the Palestinians and Israelis today; and how we, through our ignorance, allow the killing to continue. It is about the repercussions of those far off events on us all, even in Canada and the US today.
Although the Middle East is the focus for much of the book, it is also about the stewardship of those elected to office, about love, betrayal and redemption, of the role of the press in a democracy and the urgent need to address issues relating to the environment and religious fundamentalism.
Stillpoint is a story of ideas, politics, compassion and kindness. And of course, small mindedness, bigotry selfishness, desperation and violence.
Mallard asks us, Can we have a world safe for ourselves when its not safe for others? He draws attention to the fact that instability and violence are inherent to the growing disparity between the rich and poor, globally. He asks the question, what causes people to turn to religious fundamentalism and violence?
And, deep in the heart of this book, we encounter the wisdom of the Chinese sage, Lao Tzu brought to life in the characters of the Lebanese shepherd and Sufi mystic Nasir, the grandfather Ali, and the grand daughter Mera. We encounter Captain Heatherington, a British medical officer and his Lebanese friend Omar, a physician in Acre during the siege of 1947 and the typhoid epidemic. And years later we meet the elderly Captain again, in Camden Maine, and the philosophy professor turned politician, Tremaine, and his Canadian wife Sandra.
In this haunting and lovely book you’ll be deeply moved; taken to a world beyond right and wrong, a world where understanding is born—the stillpoint to which the poet TS Elliot refers. It is here that compassion emerges and possibilities for peace.
Michelle Cohen Corasanti, author of the best selling novel The Almond Tree, suggests, “When more politicians, intellectuals, and readers in general, are influenced by Stillpoint, than Machiavelli’s Prince—shockingly, one of the worlds most influential tomes—what a wonderful world it will be.”
And Rock Demers, movie producer of LaFete Productions in Montreal says, “I have read Stillpoint twice. Never before have I read something so emotionally enthralling about the present ‘Palestinian/Israeli’ situation. It is to the point. It is poetic. It is honest. It is hopeful. It is what I am dreaming everyday as a resolution to this most complex situation, one that concerns each one of us as human beings, no matter where we live.”
Stillpoint is published by Promontory Press of Victoria and will arrive in Chapters shortly. It is also available as an e book in all the major formats.
In the meantime, Mallard will be available to talk about his books and photographs at Kitty Coleman Woodland Gardens, during the Art and Bloom Festival the long Victoria Day weekend May18 through May 20th.
Val Walton
Editor
Courtenay, BC
