On the countdown to the Gillers, Steven W. Beattie (review editor of the Quill & Quire by day) has started his yearly coverage of the short list on his personal blog, That Shakespeherian Rag. For each title, Beattie gives a snap shot of reviews, a sample passage and his own assessment of the work.

First on the block, The Boys in the Trees, by Mary Swan:

Swan’s novel contains a pleasingly circular structure — it opens with William Heath climbing up a tree to escape a beating from his father, and closes with Eaton, William’s son, climbing another tree for another, archly ironic reason. But the subtlety of the book’s structure is undercut by a narrative that is relentlessly bleak and cold, and that gives off the peculiar mustiness of historicity that is the hallmark of so much lauded CanLit.

If you haven’t had time to read all the books, or feel like taking him to task, follow along as Beattie works his way through the shortlist.