TOM STEWART

For fans of Cormac McCarthy and Ernest Hemingway comes a debut novel that Book Sirens calls "Heartbreakingly beautiful, raw and enchanting. " A father raises his boy in the isolated north. But for those lands and minds with an unsettled past, other dangers may lurk the woods where father and son hunt the timber. ***** 2023 Whistler Independent Book Awards Fiction Winner ********** 2022 Chanticleer International Book Awards Literary & Contemporary Fiction Finalist ***** Hes known as the trapper and his family has a long history in these remote woods. Now its just him and the boy, and hell raise him in the world he knows, the forest, where threats take recognizable forms: harsh weather, peak predators, the encroachment of civilization at odds with their lifestyle. A tale told in captivating prose of wild living, where human skin is no boundary for either the beauty or cruelty of nature. After the arrival of a foreign presence, the forest in all its naked majesty becomes an arena for the dueling forces of life: joy and suffering, good and evil, compassion and vengeance. One fateful day their woodland life is violently brokenshouldnt those guilty of such injustice be held to account? Though the forest is isolated, this may be a story of the wilderness existing within us all.

"Immortal North is one of the finest examples of true literary fiction I have ever read. "Marcus Lynn Dean, author, Thermals of Time The "achingly beautiful" story of Immortal North concludes in this stunning sequel, an unflinching meditation on the triumph of human resolve. Hes known as the trapper and his family has a long history in these remote woods. Now its just him and the boy, and hell raise him in the world he knows, the forest, where threats take recognizable forms: harsh weather, peak predators, the intrusion of civilization at odds with their lifestyle. But for those lands and minds with an unsettled past, other dangers may lurk the woods where father and son hunt the timber. One fateful day their woodland life is violently brokenshouldnt those guilty of such injustice be held to account?The aftermath of the first novel becomes too volatile to be contained by the woods, and the town hears of a murder and an abductionthat list of crimes is not getting any shorter. An atmospheric tale both haunting and heartening. A northern tragedy dark enough that even the patch of sky above their old family cabin seems to have lost its stars, but hope and courage have this luminous sequel shining with radiant light.

***** A Readers Favorite Five Star Author ********** Shelf Unbound 2022 Best Indie Book Notable Author ********** 2020 Canada Book Awards Winning Author *****Tom at seventeen years old, naive and optimistic, took a bush-plane flight north to remote wilderness and work at an isolated fishing lodge. Only days into the season, confrontations with coworkers escalates into threats on his life. So a young man makes a stand. In a later year and having gotten his pilot license, Toms float plane is screaming down the lake and wont lift from the surface. Hes run out of liquid runway with no time to power down. The big forest closing in. He crashes... Chapter by chapter, these memoir stories move from laugh-out-loud accounts to flushed romances with hearts both swelled and broken to tales of rapid intensification from imminent threats to Toms lifesome of them self-imposed. Tom doesnt invite you to glimpse his world, he straps you into the seat beside him, smiles, and pushes throttle to full. Stories like Twain with scenes set to Krakauer backdrops and words on the page in honest prose like Hemingway--an affectionate yet piercing memoir of northern adventure, wilderness, and love. Thrilling and heart-wrenching, stirring and joyous, Under Big-Hearted Skies is an intimate perspective yet panoramic view of an impassioned life.

"In prose that sears, he gives us the wild coast and the wounded soulboth stripped of pretense, both tremblingly alive."Author Tom Stewartfollowing a national fiction award for Immortal Northreturns with his most intimate novel yet: an emotionally charged story of heartbreak and healing in the town he calls home. Lyrical and sexy, at once comedic and profound, the story unfolds over three days, seamlessly weaving sensational Tofino history with a blemished and modern romance.Sunrise in downtown Vancouver. On her morning jog, Valerie Lou Roy falls to her knees from a panic attack. Founder and CEO of a disruptive social media firm, shes facing public backlash and looming lawsuits. Last night she thought it was his truck outside her condo againa man unstable well before their bad breakup.Seeking a former peace she can hardly recall, Valerie boards a ferry to one of Canadas most stunning coastal towns. Stubborn fate seems at play when she crosses paths again with a curious fishing guide: part-time smut writer with a taste for off-colour jokes and the occasional literary quote. Valerie begins to suspect that laughter and romance might heal more than even Tofinos hot springs and taco trucks, endless beaches and an ocean coloured the blue of your dreams. But the past rarely stays where you leave it. As closeness stirs between her and the unlikely guide, honesty feels less like rescue than another weight to bear. Her business, her sense of self, and the fragile promise of new love are at risk, while an anxious tide rises and fresh betrayals near.