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A Canoer of Shorelines
In this lyrical novel, Julie Martin and Rachel Hardy both have an attachment to Meadowbrook Acres, and both try to reinvent their lives in its ghostly, antique embrace. Julie struggles to define herself in an adult role, bucking against demons until an encounter with Grandma Mary helps her realize they’re mostly in her head. Rachel is also looking for definition and returns to her childhood home with the idea she might rewrite her past. The two women’s stories—Julie’s told through the main narrative; Rachel’s through others’ recollections and her journal—intersect in the most delicious way. Dreams are a big part of life at Meadowbrook Acres, and the protagonists’ dreams overlap as their lives do. Indeed, the creaking house that is their centrepiece becomes a “dream house,” swollen with stories that haunt them both. The stories that have ferried them thus far take on new meanings, and a certain peacefulness pays a visit to this remote old home.
307 pages, Kindle Edition
Published April 28, 2021
13 people want to read
About the author
Anne M. Smith-Nochasak
4 books20 followersANNE M. SMITH-NOCHASAK grew up in a farmhouse in rural Nova Scotia, Canada, a place of laughter, hard work, and the occasional unexplainable sound in the night. She is of diverse ancestry, with a background including priests, preachers, and privateers. She was a strawberry picker, waitress, nursing home worker, oven insulator, and many other things before turning to teaching. For many years she taught in high school, elementary, and resource programs, and her fondest memories are of teaching in northern and isolated Indigenous communities, where there was such joy and partnership on the learning journey. Her son traveled with her for many years, but as an adult returned to his northern birthplace to live and learn his father's ways.
The idea for A Canoer of Shorelines, her first novel, came to her when she was living summers in a cabin accessible only by canoe. It began as the story of a haunted farmhouse, but as the characters told their stories, she realized that it was a story of forgiveness, acceptance, and love.
Her second novel, The Ice Widow, came out in November 2022, and this novel reflects some of her deepest impressions from her teaching years. These impressions come together in a story of incompatible youthful love that is recreated in maturity, in a time of pandemic.
She is currently working on a dystopian trilogy, Taggak Journey, in which saving Flo's granddaughter River will be the key to saving everything. Unlikely heroes will emerge in the apocalyptic wilderness of rural Nova Scotia, in a world hauntingly similar to what we are witnessing now. Books One and Two are now out.
Anne resides in rural Nova Scotia these days with her Ultimate Last Dog Shay. Dogs play an instrumental role in all her writings, and are inspired by the dogs she has known.
www.acanoerofshorelines.com
The idea for A Canoer of Shorelines, her first novel, came to her when she was living summers in a cabin accessible only by canoe. It began as the story of a haunted farmhouse, but as the characters told their stories, she realized that it was a story of forgiveness, acceptance, and love.
Her second novel, The Ice Widow, came out in November 2022, and this novel reflects some of her deepest impressions from her teaching years. These impressions come together in a story of incompatible youthful love that is recreated in maturity, in a time of pandemic.
She is currently working on a dystopian trilogy, Taggak Journey, in which saving Flo's granddaughter River will be the key to saving everything. Unlikely heroes will emerge in the apocalyptic wilderness of rural Nova Scotia, in a world hauntingly similar to what we are witnessing now. Books One and Two are now out.
Anne resides in rural Nova Scotia these days with her Ultimate Last Dog Shay. Dogs play an instrumental role in all her writings, and are inspired by the dogs she has known.
www.acanoerofshorelines.com
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
July 19, 2022
For further diversion from my usual darker epic fantasy fare, I picked up “A Canoer of Shorelines” by author Anne-Smith Nochasak.
In this wonderfully written novel, the reader is whisked off the world of rural Nova Scotia, on the eastern coast of Canada, a place I have always wanted to visit. One will be immersed in the quaint small-town life, with its particular values, rumour mills, and idiosyncrasies.
The story jumps back and forth between the narrative perspectives of main characters Julie Martin and Rachel Hardy. It becomes evident as the book progresses that the lives of these two fascinating women run parallel and criss-cross more than either of them could ever realize.
They are both bound to the same house, the same tranquil, yet troubled place – Meadowbrook Acres - but for very different reasons. It is Rachel’s childhood family home, but she cannot stay there, as too many ghosts of the past inhabiting this domain haunt her.
Julie is newly arrived to Meadowbrook Acres, though she has been visiting the region for many years. She is determined not to let obstacles such as not yet having secured employment in the area, and the potential money-pit that renovations to Meadowbrook Acres could create for her.
The farm seems to call to her, begging her to make it her own. As it is reminder of happier times, Julie has hopes and ambitions for how wonderful the old farmhouse could be, and how content she could be, living there. As is most often the case, life has other plans for her.
Through Julie’s dreams, and her narrative of ongoing happenings, we come to understand the true impact Meadowbrook Acres will eventually have on her, and others. For something mystical may be lurking in Medowbrook Acres.
Or is that a only a figment of the imagination of those who have inhabited it?
Meanwhile, Rachel has grown up at Meadowbrook Acres, and the reader is introduced to her and her story predominantly through her journal. Rachel is attempting to comprehend the events that have shaped her existence, and decide who she is and how she wants to live her life.
The characters in this book, especially the two main ones aforementioned, were compelling, very well drawn, and I adored reading about them. Still, I think my favourite character was the dog, Musko. His storyline is heart-warming, and the solace he provides for particularly Julie’s family is incredible.
In terms of themes, I found the them of family to be the strongest and most stand-out one in this book. Family, as with a lot of people, can be dysfunctional, and both Rachel and Julie struggle with those familial relationships.
Yet these relationships change and mature throughout the story, in surprising and intriguing ways. The book is all about reflection, self-discovery, evolution, perseverance, facing one's fears, finding a sense of one’s purpose and place in the world, and of course, finding ultimate fulfillment.
"I took the role my mother would not take; I faced the past and stripped it down."
This novel is a slow burn, and the beautiful prose, the supernatural elements, the excellent character work as the two women morph and grow throughout the novel, and of course the lovely descriptive writing about the glorious nature setting makes it a wonderful read.
As a reader you will find this novel very relatable, full of emotion, and very hard to put down. It completely enchanted me, as Meadowbrook Acres captivated the novel’s characters. Highly recommended.
In this wonderfully written novel, the reader is whisked off the world of rural Nova Scotia, on the eastern coast of Canada, a place I have always wanted to visit. One will be immersed in the quaint small-town life, with its particular values, rumour mills, and idiosyncrasies.
The story jumps back and forth between the narrative perspectives of main characters Julie Martin and Rachel Hardy. It becomes evident as the book progresses that the lives of these two fascinating women run parallel and criss-cross more than either of them could ever realize.
They are both bound to the same house, the same tranquil, yet troubled place – Meadowbrook Acres - but for very different reasons. It is Rachel’s childhood family home, but she cannot stay there, as too many ghosts of the past inhabiting this domain haunt her.
Julie is newly arrived to Meadowbrook Acres, though she has been visiting the region for many years. She is determined not to let obstacles such as not yet having secured employment in the area, and the potential money-pit that renovations to Meadowbrook Acres could create for her.
The farm seems to call to her, begging her to make it her own. As it is reminder of happier times, Julie has hopes and ambitions for how wonderful the old farmhouse could be, and how content she could be, living there. As is most often the case, life has other plans for her.
Through Julie’s dreams, and her narrative of ongoing happenings, we come to understand the true impact Meadowbrook Acres will eventually have on her, and others. For something mystical may be lurking in Medowbrook Acres.
Or is that a only a figment of the imagination of those who have inhabited it?
Meanwhile, Rachel has grown up at Meadowbrook Acres, and the reader is introduced to her and her story predominantly through her journal. Rachel is attempting to comprehend the events that have shaped her existence, and decide who she is and how she wants to live her life.
The characters in this book, especially the two main ones aforementioned, were compelling, very well drawn, and I adored reading about them. Still, I think my favourite character was the dog, Musko. His storyline is heart-warming, and the solace he provides for particularly Julie’s family is incredible.
In terms of themes, I found the them of family to be the strongest and most stand-out one in this book. Family, as with a lot of people, can be dysfunctional, and both Rachel and Julie struggle with those familial relationships.
Yet these relationships change and mature throughout the story, in surprising and intriguing ways. The book is all about reflection, self-discovery, evolution, perseverance, facing one's fears, finding a sense of one’s purpose and place in the world, and of course, finding ultimate fulfillment.
"I took the role my mother would not take; I faced the past and stripped it down."
This novel is a slow burn, and the beautiful prose, the supernatural elements, the excellent character work as the two women morph and grow throughout the novel, and of course the lovely descriptive writing about the glorious nature setting makes it a wonderful read.
As a reader you will find this novel very relatable, full of emotion, and very hard to put down. It completely enchanted me, as Meadowbrook Acres captivated the novel’s characters. Highly recommended.
February 13, 2023
This is the kind of book that makes the reader think. Not only about the story it tells on its pages, but also about your own experiences. "She will not lament what the years have taken, but embrace what they still hold." While reading “A Canoer of Shorelines” by Anne M. Smith-Nochasak I was thinking about my childhood and the people who surrounded me. It feels like another life since those people and places are no more.
Still, those who made an impact on our lives, as well as places we connected emotionally with, never truly disappear. They remain in our memories. Places of our childhood and youth, books our parents read to us always remain special for us. And this tether to the past makes life worth living. Some say memories are a burden. But in truth, they sustain you at times when it seems that you’ll fall and won’t be able to rise again.
There is a theory that the past, the present, and the future exist at the same time. I like the idea that nothing in life gets lost. It gives hope and also meaning to our existence.
It’s a different thing, that some things we let go of gladly. The things that don’t let us enjoy life. But there are also things that we want to keep in our hearts forever. These are the bricks of our souls. If they drop out of the wall, we won’t be whole.
Both Julie Martin and Rachel Hardy aren’t whole. And they both believe that an old farm Meadowbrook Acres will make them such.
For Rachel, the farm is her legacy, the place where she grew up, listening to the family legends about Grandma Mary, who cut her teeth on Spanish doubloons. Meadowbrook Acres pulls her in and pushes her away, for many years in equal measure until the struggle becomes too tough and Rachel leaves everything and everyone behind. She disappears – or maybe it only seems that way – and it opens a window of opportunity for Julie.
Julie doesn’t disappear from her family and friends’ radar, but she is lost. The life of the teacher in the Reserves that she’s chosen for herself brought bitter disappointments. "Happiness is not made. It is recognized and embraced.” Julie needs time – and Meadowbrook Acres? – to recognise her happiness. But can she ever embrace it?
I loved the way the author interweaved the present and the past of two women. Rachel’s memories of her extended family evoked images from my own past. I too grew up surrounded by aunts and uncles. They came to us and stayed for months. We regularly visited them, and my parents left me at their places for weeks. I still feel the warmth I was constantly cocooned in.
It is fascinating how certain things are the same despite time and distance. "There are untold stories that these aunts could have told. In those times, untold stories were kept untold." Indeed, my aunts had such stories too, and they have remained untold.
Julie comes to Meadowbrook Acres to find answers to her questions. Instead, the old house presents her with new ones. The old house haunts her and puzzles her with things her rational mind refuses to accept. The house where Grandma Mary presided over the family, cursing the role that should have belonged to a man but at the same time, revelling in her power. Meadowbrook Acres tortures her with dreams, which with time, become almost indiscernible from reality. Although only a tenant, Julie learns the truth many landowners know: "People with land do not always have money. They have land and they can break their hearts on that land, but that is not the same thing as having money."
Will both Julie and Rachel realise that "The spark and anticipation of a future unlived cannot be recaptured"? Will they stop living in the past and thinking that happiness awaits them in the future and embrace their present?
This deeply poetic book pulled me in and still hasn’t let go. I’m looking forward to reading the author's second novel “The Ice Widow”.
Still, those who made an impact on our lives, as well as places we connected emotionally with, never truly disappear. They remain in our memories. Places of our childhood and youth, books our parents read to us always remain special for us. And this tether to the past makes life worth living. Some say memories are a burden. But in truth, they sustain you at times when it seems that you’ll fall and won’t be able to rise again.
There is a theory that the past, the present, and the future exist at the same time. I like the idea that nothing in life gets lost. It gives hope and also meaning to our existence.
It’s a different thing, that some things we let go of gladly. The things that don’t let us enjoy life. But there are also things that we want to keep in our hearts forever. These are the bricks of our souls. If they drop out of the wall, we won’t be whole.
Both Julie Martin and Rachel Hardy aren’t whole. And they both believe that an old farm Meadowbrook Acres will make them such.
For Rachel, the farm is her legacy, the place where she grew up, listening to the family legends about Grandma Mary, who cut her teeth on Spanish doubloons. Meadowbrook Acres pulls her in and pushes her away, for many years in equal measure until the struggle becomes too tough and Rachel leaves everything and everyone behind. She disappears – or maybe it only seems that way – and it opens a window of opportunity for Julie.
Julie doesn’t disappear from her family and friends’ radar, but she is lost. The life of the teacher in the Reserves that she’s chosen for herself brought bitter disappointments. "Happiness is not made. It is recognized and embraced.” Julie needs time – and Meadowbrook Acres? – to recognise her happiness. But can she ever embrace it?
I loved the way the author interweaved the present and the past of two women. Rachel’s memories of her extended family evoked images from my own past. I too grew up surrounded by aunts and uncles. They came to us and stayed for months. We regularly visited them, and my parents left me at their places for weeks. I still feel the warmth I was constantly cocooned in.
It is fascinating how certain things are the same despite time and distance. "There are untold stories that these aunts could have told. In those times, untold stories were kept untold." Indeed, my aunts had such stories too, and they have remained untold.
Julie comes to Meadowbrook Acres to find answers to her questions. Instead, the old house presents her with new ones. The old house haunts her and puzzles her with things her rational mind refuses to accept. The house where Grandma Mary presided over the family, cursing the role that should have belonged to a man but at the same time, revelling in her power. Meadowbrook Acres tortures her with dreams, which with time, become almost indiscernible from reality. Although only a tenant, Julie learns the truth many landowners know: "People with land do not always have money. They have land and they can break their hearts on that land, but that is not the same thing as having money."
Will both Julie and Rachel realise that "The spark and anticipation of a future unlived cannot be recaptured"? Will they stop living in the past and thinking that happiness awaits them in the future and embrace their present?
This deeply poetic book pulled me in and still hasn’t let go. I’m looking forward to reading the author's second novel “The Ice Widow”.
December 28, 2021
A Canoer of Shorelines is a heartwarming story of complex family dynamics, friendships, and starting over. Normally a speed reader, I loved the prose of this story so much that I read slowly to savour it. This is a story that will stay with me a long time, and I will inevitably re-visit the people living within the pages of this very worthwhile read.
August 23, 2021
An amazing literary novel full of imagery and purpose in exploring family, death, relationships and nature. Well done.
April 19, 2025
Anne M. Smith-Nochasak’s A Canoer of Shorelines is a beautifully written, introspective novel that draws the reader into a quiet yet powerful exploration of identity, memory, and healing. Through the parallel lives of Julie Martin and Rachel Hardy, we are invited into the haunting charm of Meadowbrook Acres—a house that almost breathes with the weight of its history.
Julie’s journey of self-definition is both raw and moving, filled with inner turmoil and the struggle for clarity. Rachel’s story, unfolding through journal entries and shared memories, is equally compelling as she seeks to make peace with her past. The way their lives gently intersect adds a layer of richness and emotional resonance to the narrative.
The prose is lyrical and reflective, often dreamlike, with the house itself becoming a character—one that harbours secrets, stories, and solace. Dreams blur into reality, and the novel becomes less about resolution and more about becoming.
A Canoer of Shorelines is a deeply thoughtful read, ideal for those who enjoy literary fiction that lingers in the heart and mind long after the final page.
Julie’s journey of self-definition is both raw and moving, filled with inner turmoil and the struggle for clarity. Rachel’s story, unfolding through journal entries and shared memories, is equally compelling as she seeks to make peace with her past. The way their lives gently intersect adds a layer of richness and emotional resonance to the narrative.
The prose is lyrical and reflective, often dreamlike, with the house itself becoming a character—one that harbours secrets, stories, and solace. Dreams blur into reality, and the novel becomes less about resolution and more about becoming.
A Canoer of Shorelines is a deeply thoughtful read, ideal for those who enjoy literary fiction that lingers in the heart and mind long after the final page.
October 10, 2023
I fell head first into this book from the very first page. The author has such a beautifully poetic way of weaving the story, one that lets the story seep into your bones and settle there for a while. So much resonated with me, so much so that the author made me feel like it was an experience and not merely words on the page because I found myself reflecting on my own past, and my own memories. As a reader, I must connect with the main character (s) and the author crafted her characters Julie and Rachel beautifully, realistically and with such a flair of emotional pull and ache that I thought about both women long after I read the last page. Time and distance, untold stories and memories, interweaving past and present, with such warmth. This was a joy to immerse myself in. Highly recommended.
March 13, 2024
“A Canoer of Shorelines,” by Anne M. Smith-Nochasak tells the tale of Julie, a teacher. At 32 and following a break-up with an incredibly selfish and heartless man, she returns to a neglected family farm, Meadowbrook Acres, as a tenant. The tale is beautifully and fancifully told in a lyrical and haunting prose; it is the sort of work to be savored, not just read. She describes her home after her dog is taken from her: The perimeter pulsed with the lack of Musto, great-hearted, trusting Musto. Ms. Smith-Nochasak words are simple yet devastating.
Whilst in the old farmhouse, so full of history and memories, Julie deals with ghosts and wallows in dreams and memories of the past. She is also consumed with reveries of herself, her parents, and Samuel and Rachel, who own the farmhouse. This is a nostalgic, poignant and compelling tale of regrets, friendships, dreams, and new beginnings.
Whilst in the old farmhouse, so full of history and memories, Julie deals with ghosts and wallows in dreams and memories of the past. She is also consumed with reveries of herself, her parents, and Samuel and Rachel, who own the farmhouse. This is a nostalgic, poignant and compelling tale of regrets, friendships, dreams, and new beginnings.
September 21, 2023
A most beautiful novel... The author has a unique writing voice, and the rare gift of turning the ordinary into the extraordinary simply by the turn if a phrase. I was so immersed in the narrative, a gentle read, that is imbued with understated humour, compassion, and a deep understanding of human nature. A highly recommended book for all literary fiction fans.
January 3, 2024
A Canoer of Shorelines is a sensitive, wonderfully sketched out book about two different women whose lives intertwine through the same house they both live in at different times in their lives, through the common people they know and through dreams and nightmares.
Throughout the book the narrator, sees herself as a Canoer of Shorelines- some one who tries to start anew but is never really able to let go of the past, someone who sees links and connections between everyone and everything, someone who finds herself becoming a shadow of a woman she never meet. A Canoer of Shorelines is an adventurer who is never really able to let go of the past. The book beautifully draws the light on the lives of different characters- their hopes and dreams and their fears- at times expressed and at other times with a silence that leaves you yearning for more. Most would say this book is a perfect example of well written women’s fiction but I would go a step further and say this book, this story also holds an aura of mystery very much like the famous book ‘Rebecca’ of yore did. It leaves behind the omnipresent shadow of a woman whose life is seen through the eyes and memories of those she has left behind. And slowly but surely one woman builds a dark but resilient connection with a woman she never met, leaving you the reader turning pages.
Throughout the book the narrator, sees herself as a Canoer of Shorelines- some one who tries to start anew but is never really able to let go of the past, someone who sees links and connections between everyone and everything, someone who finds herself becoming a shadow of a woman she never meet. A Canoer of Shorelines is an adventurer who is never really able to let go of the past. The book beautifully draws the light on the lives of different characters- their hopes and dreams and their fears- at times expressed and at other times with a silence that leaves you yearning for more. Most would say this book is a perfect example of well written women’s fiction but I would go a step further and say this book, this story also holds an aura of mystery very much like the famous book ‘Rebecca’ of yore did. It leaves behind the omnipresent shadow of a woman whose life is seen through the eyes and memories of those she has left behind. And slowly but surely one woman builds a dark but resilient connection with a woman she never met, leaving you the reader turning pages.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews