The Healer

by Greg Hollingshead

Greg Hollingshead’s remarkable novel of betrayal and redemption explores the farthest reaches of human experience, in a story that will immediately capture fans of Bedlam, his latest masterwork.

When Tim Wakelin heads north, in search of a story about a local healer, he enters a world that is real yet strange. Drawn into a beautiful but unforgiving landscape, he quickly finds his veneer of control stripped away. This novel of unbridled power and original sensibility explores the fine line between madness and sanity, and between physical and spiritual reality.

Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Literary Fiction, Canada, Literature

309 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1998

About the author

Gregory "Greg" Hollingshead, CM is a Canadian novelist. He is currently a professor of English at the University of Alberta. He lives in Edmonton, Alberta. He is a graduate of the University of Toronto Schools and the University of Toronto. Wikipedia

Reviews

[Annette LeBox · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you like dark, psychological tales with fascinating but disturbing characters, written by a writer at the top of his game, be prepared to love Greg Hollingshead's work The Healer (the original title). Once I began this weird and twisted, yet brilliant story, I couldn't put the book down. I invented excuses to read over lunch, in the bathtub and as I did my stretching exercises. At first I felt guilty for neglecting my own writing, then I gave up and simply spent a couple of days reading like a slug. Tim Wakelin, the main character, is a journalist who is still grieving the loss of his wife. He travels to the wilds of the Canadian Shield to interview Caroline Troyer, reputed to be a healer. When he arrives, he finds himself drawn into the mysterious web circling around Troyer in ways that catch him off guard. Soon we realize that Wakelin is as damaged as Caroline and her deranged parents. Hollingshead's writing is lyrical. He writes beautifully about nature, but he is equally adept at creating tension in a story. I literally gritted my teeth as I hurriedly turned the pages. Although I'm not a fan of mysteries, I enjoyed the writer's ability to surprise me at every turn.

[Magdelanye · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was my introduction to GH plucked off the shelf when i still had borrow privileges at the bookstore so it was within the last decade. It was one of those great reading experiences, like a bolt from the blue, when it begins to dawn on you that you are falling in love, and that you are reading a masterpiece.
This is on my must read again list, near the top

[Irene · Rating 5 out of 5]

It took a while for me to get into this book but I'm glad I persevered.The writing is amazing. I'm not a good enough writer to put into words what I loved about it except to say that Hollingshead writes about the mysteries of life.

[Sandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

This - a signed and dedicated copy - was on the shelf of a cottage we rented in Orkney, and I don't know how much of my enjoyment was due to my mindset, how much was because of what I was writing at the time or how much of it was the book itself, but the prose completely entranced me, to the extent that I thought of stealing it.
I didn't, of course, but bought my own copy when I returned home.

[Gregg Norman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not a particularly easy read but a very satisfying one.

[Michelle · Rating 2 out of 5]

Didn’t love the writing.

[Gsc · Rating 2 out of 5]

What to say?
Parts of this book are beautifully written. A freelance writer Tim Wakelin visits a small town in Canada looking for silence, so he says. And to write a story on a local healer.
The back story on other characters in the book are revealed slowly, in fragments; in keeping with the pace of life the author painstakingly assembles. So it is beautiful. But just does not hold together for me. Too much narrative spent being evocative or resonant. Or something. Or I am not sensitive to what the author was trying to achieve.
So perhaps approach with care?

[Thing Two · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a very difficult story to follow, and yet, it was not difficult to read. I just never quite knew what was going on when I initially read the scene, and had to wait for the author to revisit the situation once or twice before I got it. I'm sure this was intentional, but I found it frustrating.

[Maureen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Brilliant writing though often just too much - descriptions actually went over to being flowery when there was too much.
Would have been far better if honed down and focused as it became repetitive. Many passages on insanity and bipolar were brilliant.

[Carell · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was tricked! I thought "The Healer" would be about someone who healed. Instead it was a book of ramblings, philosophical spoutings, violence, never-ending descriptions that didn't carry the bare basics of a plot forward. DON'T BOTHER WITH THIS BOOK.

[Di · Rating 1 out of 5]

A basically entertaining premise ruined by meaningless waffle. This guy needs a good editor!

[Stacy eLle · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book had a good story, that is when you could find your way through all the discriptions of I'm not sure what. I was rather disappointed in the ending.