Shadows Gathering

by Richard Pope

The noonday sun mercilessly scorched the nodding wheat field of Black Bill Jones’s farm. Occasionally a welcome little gypsy breeze lazed across the field rolling the grain heads before it in long flowing waves, but for the most part the men just had to sweat it out in the still, hot air… An epic tale of love, murder, and war, Richard Pope’s Shadows Gathering offers a haunting glimpse into rural Canada during the tumultuous days of World War I. With stunning detail, readers are transported back and forth between a logging camp in 1909, where a tragic accident with far-reaching consequences takes place, and the daily lives, loves, and hopes, of an isolated village’s inhabitants in 1914. A richly imagined cast of characters including Poles, Germans, Blacks, Irish Catholics, and English Protestants contributes to a rich social fabric that is racked by war, love, and a violent crime that haunts them all. Follow the rise and fall of a tenacious community as dreams of patriotism wither in the brutal reality of war, a poignant romance comes to its inevitable conclusion, and a group of common villagers are forced to endure the inevitable devastation war leaves in its wake.

328 pages, Paperback

First published May 23, 2014

About the author

Richard Pope is a birder and life-long naturalist who taught Russian literature, culture and history before retiring. He writes historical fiction about the fur trade, the voyageurs, and the First World War.