The Wind Seller

by Rachael Preston

Overview

In her highly anticipated second novel, Rachael Preston tells a vibrant, compelling story of 20th century piracy. Exploring the complex struggle for freedom against a backdrop of passion and repression, The Wind Seller is the story of two vulnerable, shellshocked people and the "wind seller" who captivates them both.

Life in 1924 Kenomee, Nova Scotia, seems simple enough. Until, that is, a mysterious schooner blows into town under the cover of darkness, in desperate need of repair. Waking up to the giant black ship moored near their wharf, the villagers gather to take a gander at the Esmeralda and her crew. To everyone's surprise, there's a woman on board, and she shares the schooner's name. Claiming to be the captain's daughter, she wears men's clothing — young and beautiful, she is as fit and as strong as the men. She is also an enigma and starts a chain of events that will change everyone's life, except perhaps her own.

The Wind Seller is a moving story about choices and consequences, but it is also about imprisonment by, and release from, the personal demons unleashed by terrible experience.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780864924322
Publisher:	Goose Lane Editions
Publication date:	04/21/2006
Edition description:	First edition
Pages:	296
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.30(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Rachael Preston has won the Hamilton and Region Arts Council Literary Award and been shortlisted for the Journey Prize. A native of Yorkshire, England, she studied at Emily Carr College, Vancouver, before moving to Hamilton. She has worked as an advertising copywriter, an ESL teacher, an editor, and a writer of film and video scripts. She now teaches creative writing at Sheridan and Mohawk colleges. Tent of Blue gave readers their first opportunity to immerse themselves in her fictional world.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"A romance, a mystery, an intimate social drama, The Wind Seller is brimming with visceral dangers and lusts." — Andrew Pyper, author of The Wildfire Season

"The Wind Seller is like a vacation in your pocket. Rachael Preston's lively prose and historian's eye for detail pull you away to another time and place." — Trevor Cole, author of Norman Bray in the Performance of his Life

Editorial Reviews

"The novel is a literary page-turner, churning with thrilling scenes ... taut pacing ... It's an exciting, adventurous novel with literary worth ... seamlessly executed ... I hope it receives the broad readership it merits."

"Preston has an adroit way with a plot; when she segues from character's storyline to another, in the narrative's present day or in flashback, it is seamless. Her characters are believable, resilient and quirky, and her prose is thrilling. A wind seller, according to Preston, refers to a witch who will bestow favourable breezes upon a ship, for a fee or out of largesse. The Wind Seller's sails are full, she's racing with the wind, and a great tale awaits."

From the Publisher

"The novel is a literary page-turner, churning with thrilling scenes ... taut pacing ... It's an exciting, adventurous novel with literary worth ... seamlessly executed ... I hope it receives the broad readership it merits."

Globe and Mail

"Preston has an adroit way with a plot; when she segues from character's storyline to another, in the narrative's present day or in flashback, it is seamless. Her characters are believable, resilient and quirky, and her prose is thrilling. A wind seller, according to Preston, refers to a witch who will bestow favourable breezes upon a ship, for a fee or out of largesse. The Wind Seller's sails are full, she's racing with the wind, and a great tale awaits."

Hamilton Spectator