What do you think?
Rate this book
The Chorus Beneath Our Feet
A grief-stricken soldier accompanies his best friend's body home after eight years away, only to find his mute sister, Mary, missing and wanted for questioning by the police in the murder of an infant in the city's central park. As Mary's life hangs in the balance, Jes must follow the obscure clues she has left behind, the only means to find her and absolve her of wrongdoing. In his labyrinthine search, the mystery of the park's infamous Harron tree and its connection to his sister, and their community, is slowly revealed. The Chorus Beneath Our Feet explores buried secrets, and the human desire for healing and connection.
280 pages, Paperback
First published October 14, 2025
About the author
Melanie Schnell
2 books27 followersMelanie Schnell is an award-winning author and Assistant Professor of English and Creative Writing at the University of Regina. She has written for television, and has published poetry, fiction, and non-fiction. She has written two novels: While the Sun is Above Us and The Chorus Beneath Our Feet.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
March 21, 2026
This book highlights so many various aspects of the beauty within Canadian life and the landscapes of the prairies. Schnell blends a variety of perspectives that give the audience new insights into topics not widely known from Canadian history. Absolutely loved it!
November 23, 2025
The Chorus Beneath Our Feet is one of those rare novels that sweeps you up from the first page and doesn’t let go. I devoured it in a single sitting, completely absorbed by its emotional weight and the seamless way it blends multiple genres into one cohesive, compelling story.
The writing is stunning. Quietly powerful, intentional, and incredibly immersive. The book weaves together threads of Canada’s dark history, mythological elements, literary nuance, and a touch of mystery. Somehow it balances all of this without ever feeling scattered. Instead, each layer enriches the next.
The characters are complex and deeply human, each carrying their own histories, flaws, and hopes. They feel three-dimensional in a way that makes their struggles and revelations hit even harder. I especially loved how the narrative slipped between past and present with such ease; the transitions felt natural, allowing the story to unfold at exactly the right pace.
The slow reveal of information is one of the book’s greatest strengths. Every piece of the puzzle felt purposeful, each moment drawing me deeper into the buried past of a broken family and the fragile threads of human connection that tie them together.
It’s a sorrowful story, but a beautiful one. It's haunting, heartfelt, and unforgettable. A truly standout read.
The writing is stunning. Quietly powerful, intentional, and incredibly immersive. The book weaves together threads of Canada’s dark history, mythological elements, literary nuance, and a touch of mystery. Somehow it balances all of this without ever feeling scattered. Instead, each layer enriches the next.
The characters are complex and deeply human, each carrying their own histories, flaws, and hopes. They feel three-dimensional in a way that makes their struggles and revelations hit even harder. I especially loved how the narrative slipped between past and present with such ease; the transitions felt natural, allowing the story to unfold at exactly the right pace.
The slow reveal of information is one of the book’s greatest strengths. Every piece of the puzzle felt purposeful, each moment drawing me deeper into the buried past of a broken family and the fragile threads of human connection that tie them together.
It’s a sorrowful story, but a beautiful one. It's haunting, heartfelt, and unforgettable. A truly standout read.
February 5, 2026
The Chorus Beneath Our Feet by Melanie Schnell
Schnell has crafted a powerful, multi-layered novel that weaves together the contemporary struggles of a brother and sister, with a haunting, historical narrative of two siblings from Canada’s past. The result is a story that vividly captures a dark, shameful and often overlooked period in Canadian history without ever feeling like a conventional historical fiction novel.
Jes, a soldier, is returning home after 8 years away, escorting the body of his best friend for burial. He discovers that his sister Mary - selectively mute and vulnerable - has been homeless for the past year and is now wanted by police for questioning in connection with the murder of an infant found in the park. As Jes begins his search for Mary, he discovers she has left behind obscure clues, echoing the treasure hunts they shared in childhood. These clues propel the narrative forward, transforming Jes’s search into both a mystery, an emotional reckoning and a reconnection of siblings.
Schnell uses her unique multi-layered narrative structure to explore a wide range of complex issues, including the forced migration of children to Canada as labourers, mental health issues, homelessness, as well as war and PTSD. These seemingly disparate issues are seamlessly interwoven, creating a story that is compelling, gripping and heart wrenching.
The novel offers a vivid and empathetic portrayal of PTSD, through Jes’s experiences with intrusive thoughts, flashbacks, anxiety and panic attacks which feel realistic and immersive. Schnell is equally effective in her depiction of homelessness, capturing not only mental health & addiction challenges many face, but also the sense of community that exists within it, and the hostility and judgement often shown by the broader public.
While the novel serves as a suspenseful mystery, it is equally a journey of reckoning and healing, two brothers searching for their sisters. Jess’s search for his sister transforms into an internal quest, forcing him to confront his past, and feelings of guilt and shame and the fractures within their shared past. The story is full of unexpected turns that illuminate both siblings paths, ultimately delivering a powerful, heart-wrenching exploration of survival, resilience and the enduring bounds of family.
Schnell has crafted a powerful, multi-layered novel that weaves together the contemporary struggles of a brother and sister, with a haunting, historical narrative of two siblings from Canada’s past. The result is a story that vividly captures a dark, shameful and often overlooked period in Canadian history without ever feeling like a conventional historical fiction novel.
Jes, a soldier, is returning home after 8 years away, escorting the body of his best friend for burial. He discovers that his sister Mary - selectively mute and vulnerable - has been homeless for the past year and is now wanted by police for questioning in connection with the murder of an infant found in the park. As Jes begins his search for Mary, he discovers she has left behind obscure clues, echoing the treasure hunts they shared in childhood. These clues propel the narrative forward, transforming Jes’s search into both a mystery, an emotional reckoning and a reconnection of siblings.
Schnell uses her unique multi-layered narrative structure to explore a wide range of complex issues, including the forced migration of children to Canada as labourers, mental health issues, homelessness, as well as war and PTSD. These seemingly disparate issues are seamlessly interwoven, creating a story that is compelling, gripping and heart wrenching.
The novel offers a vivid and empathetic portrayal of PTSD, through Jes’s experiences with intrusive thoughts, flashbacks, anxiety and panic attacks which feel realistic and immersive. Schnell is equally effective in her depiction of homelessness, capturing not only mental health & addiction challenges many face, but also the sense of community that exists within it, and the hostility and judgement often shown by the broader public.
While the novel serves as a suspenseful mystery, it is equally a journey of reckoning and healing, two brothers searching for their sisters. Jess’s search for his sister transforms into an internal quest, forcing him to confront his past, and feelings of guilt and shame and the fractures within their shared past. The story is full of unexpected turns that illuminate both siblings paths, ultimately delivering a powerful, heart-wrenching exploration of survival, resilience and the enduring bounds of family.
November 12, 2025
I haven’t managed to finish a novel in months. I start one, get overwhelmed by work and put it down, then forget what was happening. It’s frustrating. But I finished Melanie Schnell’s The Chorus Beneath Our Feet. It held my attention even with the Jays game going on (visible in the background of my photograph).
I want to put aside the characters for a moment, even though I empathize with Jes, who’s battling multiple traumas while trying to save his sister from a dark fate. And the plot, which is full of surprises. Instead, I want to consider the poetry of the book’s title—the word “chorus.” What an evocative way to describe the fungi, microorganisms, and bones (among other things) beneath the earth’s surface. Did you know that we don’t have much of a clue about what was underneath the surface of the grassland that used to be here in southern Saskatchewan? It was ploughed under before anybody thought to ask. The interrelationships indicated by the word “chorus “—well, the suggestion of harmony, of a hidden music, really appeals to me.
A lot is happening in this novel. The Home Children, trees and fungi, development and corruption, magic (real and imagined), Canada’s participation in the war in Afghanistan: they’re all here, along with allusions to the gothic and to magic realism. I am reluctant to say more, because I don’t want to spoil anything for potential readers, and anyone reading this post is a potential reader of this book. I’m curious, though: what will happen to Mary? Will she be the protagonist of Schnell’s next novel?
So, pick up this novel, and enjoy this funhouse version of Regina. And its inclusion of uncomfortable aspects of the truth of this place.
I want to put aside the characters for a moment, even though I empathize with Jes, who’s battling multiple traumas while trying to save his sister from a dark fate. And the plot, which is full of surprises. Instead, I want to consider the poetry of the book’s title—the word “chorus.” What an evocative way to describe the fungi, microorganisms, and bones (among other things) beneath the earth’s surface. Did you know that we don’t have much of a clue about what was underneath the surface of the grassland that used to be here in southern Saskatchewan? It was ploughed under before anybody thought to ask. The interrelationships indicated by the word “chorus “—well, the suggestion of harmony, of a hidden music, really appeals to me.
A lot is happening in this novel. The Home Children, trees and fungi, development and corruption, magic (real and imagined), Canada’s participation in the war in Afghanistan: they’re all here, along with allusions to the gothic and to magic realism. I am reluctant to say more, because I don’t want to spoil anything for potential readers, and anyone reading this post is a potential reader of this book. I’m curious, though: what will happen to Mary? Will she be the protagonist of Schnell’s next novel?
So, pick up this novel, and enjoy this funhouse version of Regina. And its inclusion of uncomfortable aspects of the truth of this place.
April 11, 2026
I truly didn’t think it was possible for Melanie Schnell to outdo her first novel, but she absolutely has with The Chorus Beneath Our Feet. Jes and Mary leapt off the page for me, and I found myself thinking about them long after I put the book down. The mystery is so thoughtfully constructed that I barely wanted to pause reading—it’s the kind of novel that quietly pulls you in and then refuses to let go.
There’s a richness to the writing that reminded me of The Overstory by Richard Powers, particularly in its beautiful imagery and metaphors connected to trees. At the same time, it delivers a compelling and immersive mystery that kept me fully engaged from start to finish. As a very picky reader, I don’t say that lightly.
What makes this novel especially powerful is how it brings attention to the often overlooked history of the British Home Children. By weaving this dark and under-acknowledged chapter of Canadian history into the narrative, Schnell adds depth, meaning, and emotional weight that lingers well beyond the final page.
A beautifully written, thought-provoking, and gripping read.
There’s a richness to the writing that reminded me of The Overstory by Richard Powers, particularly in its beautiful imagery and metaphors connected to trees. At the same time, it delivers a compelling and immersive mystery that kept me fully engaged from start to finish. As a very picky reader, I don’t say that lightly.
What makes this novel especially powerful is how it brings attention to the often overlooked history of the British Home Children. By weaving this dark and under-acknowledged chapter of Canadian history into the narrative, Schnell adds depth, meaning, and emotional weight that lingers well beyond the final page.
A beautifully written, thought-provoking, and gripping read.
February 27, 2026
The Chorus Beneath Our Feet by Melanie Schnell is a lyrical novel, filled with beautiful language that gently pries apart the tendrils of two wounded hearts. Mary’s brother Jess has returned to his hometown after serving eight years in the military in Afghanistan. Shortly after his arrival, Jess discovers that his sister has likely succumbed to mental illness, is on the streets and has been seen living in a tree in the town park. Determined to locate her, he follows a strange trail of sightings and notes. Rich characterization, elements of environmentalism, a short reminder of the reality of PTSD and the ongoing issues surrounding mental illness are balanced with careful intention and sensitivity. As events unfold, and painful histories and secrets are exposed, each aspect of the complex story is pieced together in ways that demonstrate deep bonds of friendship and love. Highly recommended.
February 21, 2026
I have just finished the Choir Beneath our feet by Melanie Snell. I loved this book! I don’t often give 5 stars but this book is definitely worth it. My Grandfather was one of the children who came from England to work on a farm in Alberta. This story resonated with me. It was a very well written book.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews