THE SETTING

From alcohol and opium addictions, muscle cars and blue pool halls, shit ponds, giant tongues and other daydreams, the setting within this book drifts from philosophy to talking animals, and from reality to illusion. In the end, it is the town that speaks, for it is the town that inspired this book.

THE PLAYERS

Sam Yik, the philosopher opiate gardener befriends two young lads. At first, the young boys ridicule Sam Yik, but he quickly dispenses their questioning glances because he is interested in what these boys have to say. The door opens, and the stories unfold and intertwine from present to past to present again, and for Sam Yik, well, he travels many worlds.

THE VOICE

Cumberland is a town with a voice. Today, the voice is a diverse collection of young people stretching and vibrating the town with youthful zeal. In the past, the voice was filled with bellowing loggers, coal black miners, and Chinese, Japanese, and Black communities that wanted a piece of the coal wealth the town sat upon. This book is the voice of that old town. 

Frank is retired from the paper mill. Upon retirement, he went back to university and obtained his Bachelor of Arts - English Major from Thompson Rivers University. Since then, he has not looked back. After having taught English in China for a year, he wrote "The Cumberland Tales." 

He has been published in four different anthologies by the Poetry Institute of Canada: "Island Shores" an anthology of verse; "The Old Veranda Swing" an anthology of prose; "Fires of Autumn" an anthology of prose; and "Passages of the Heart" an anthology of verse. He is currently working on his fourth manuscript, "The Transformation of Margery Kempe, Beatrice Bonner, and Darcio”, a work of fiction about the medieval visionary, Margery Kempe.

REVIEW ; I really enjoyed “The Cumberland Tales”. I felt like I wanted to know more about the characters and the ongoing stories. Because I have been to the area I envisioned the streets and the area as I read, which is a great way to experience the story as I read.

Dennis