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The Hollow of Evening
Not yet published
Expected 9 Mar 27A haunting debut novel set in a mid-century mental institution where one resident's hope for escape collides with a system built on cruelty.
How much agency does one truly have against systems designed to negate personhood?
In an isolated institution for so-called mental defectives, Joseph Tanat and his fellow inmates hope and scheme for a return to the outside world. As Joseph awaits his case review and potential release, rivalries are formed as all fight over the memory of a former resident who some say escaped and others say was isolated and horribly disfigured in mysterious circumstances.
Grappling with paranoia and a misguided trust in the institution and its values, Joseph is threatened with becoming both victim and participant in a system built on cruelty. The Hollow of Evening explores how deeply institutions are inscribed on the self, and raises questions about the nature and limits of human agency.
How much agency does one truly have against systems designed to negate personhood?
In an isolated institution for so-called mental defectives, Joseph Tanat and his fellow inmates hope and scheme for a return to the outside world. As Joseph awaits his case review and potential release, rivalries are formed as all fight over the memory of a former resident who some say escaped and others say was isolated and horribly disfigured in mysterious circumstances.
Grappling with paranoia and a misguided trust in the institution and its values, Joseph is threatened with becoming both victim and participant in a system built on cruelty. The Hollow of Evening explores how deeply institutions are inscribed on the self, and raises questions about the nature and limits of human agency.
216 pages, Paperback
Expected publication March 9, 2027
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
November 8, 2026
This is an unsettling story set inside an institution for people considered intellectually or developmentally disabled, or labelled “mentally defective” by the standards of the time. Some were placed there because of disabilities, while others were judged unable to fit society’s expectations. Once inside, they were classified according to perceived levels of ability and given very little control over their own lives.
What stayed with me was the gradual realization of just how much cruelty was built into the everyday routines. The different perspectives, particularly Joesph and Dr. Le Vann’s, reveal the institution from very different sides. And as the truth unfolds, you begin to understand just how much has been taken from these people.
The story is fictional, but the history behind it is not. Institutionalization, eugenics and forced sterilization were very real practices, including here in Canada. That makes this a particularly uncomfortable read.
I appreciated the author’s restraint. So much is conveyed without spelling everything out, and some of the most disturbing moments are the ones left for you to piece together.
A debut Canadian author that caught my attention. I’m glad I found it as well as Dundurn Press.
Thank you to NetGalley and Dundurn Press for the ARC
What stayed with me was the gradual realization of just how much cruelty was built into the everyday routines. The different perspectives, particularly Joesph and Dr. Le Vann’s, reveal the institution from very different sides. And as the truth unfolds, you begin to understand just how much has been taken from these people.
The story is fictional, but the history behind it is not. Institutionalization, eugenics and forced sterilization were very real practices, including here in Canada. That makes this a particularly uncomfortable read.
I appreciated the author’s restraint. So much is conveyed without spelling everything out, and some of the most disturbing moments are the ones left for you to piece together.
A debut Canadian author that caught my attention. I’m glad I found it as well as Dundurn Press.
Thank you to NetGalley and Dundurn Press for the ARC
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.
An intimate and sometimes brutally realistic account of the way the system can shut you out when you are considered "different". Set in a mid-century mental institution, The Hollow of Evening by Ian MacClayn, does not romanticise hardship; its characters feel real and the prose is linear but haunting in its honesty. An important novel about identity and the difficulties of affirming oneself in a limiting society that labels you as an outcast.
An intimate and sometimes brutally realistic account of the way the system can shut you out when you are considered "different". Set in a mid-century mental institution, The Hollow of Evening by Ian MacClayn, does not romanticise hardship; its characters feel real and the prose is linear but haunting in its honesty. An important novel about identity and the difficulties of affirming oneself in a limiting society that labels you as an outcast.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews