Literary fiction author Dora Dueck is holding a pair of events this weekend in Tsawwassen in support of her fourth book, All That Belongs.
She will be signing books at Albany Books on Saturday, Nov. 9 at 1 p.m. then on Sunday, Nov. 10 will be hosting a reading/celebration from 5:30 to 7 p.m. at Blenz Coffee.
Dueck is an author of four books as well as stories, essays and articles in a variety of journals. Her novel This Hidden Thing won the McNally Robinson Book of the Year award at the Manitoba Book Awards in 2011 and was shortlisted for the Margaret Laurence Award for Fiction.
Her collection of short fiction What You Get at Home won the High Plains Award for short stories in 2013, while in 2014 her novella Mask won The Malahat Review's novella contest.
Dueck grew up in a Mennonite community in Alberta, and lived in Winnipeg for nearly 40 years. About three years ago, she and her husband re-located to Delta for family reasons.
She says she has fallen in love with the community.
All That Belongs officially launched Oct. 5 in Winnipeg. On her way back to South Delta, she did readings and events in Saskatoon, her long-ago hometown of Linden, Alberta, and Calgary.
All That Belongs is about an archivist who is about to retire. All of her life she has taken care of the past of others, but has always been resistant to look at her own. There is something that triggers her to spend a year in a pre-occupation of the dead, in particular her very odd, mysterious uncle and troubled brother.
“It unfolds and she looks back at them and being an archivist, she discovers some documents and discovers something which I won’t reveal,” said Dueck. “She comes to terms with all that belongs with her.
“Each of my stories are all a little different. I think the theme here might be shame and how it can be imposed from without, but also sometimes sort of nurtured within even if it’s not reasonable. It’s about family, family silence, secrets.”
She said so far the novel has received positive reviews.
“It was reviewed very positively in the Winnipeg Free Press and people on social media are reacting positive, so I’m happy with that,” she said. “Once the book is out there, I tend to not get too involved with how people are receiving it.”
