The Grand Change

William Andrews’ first novel examines life in a small PEI community in the 1940s and 50s as changes, so common in the rest of the world, begin to take hold. Using a road as an allegory, he weaves a lyrical tale of simple country people, their struggles and their joys. The story is told through the eyes of a boy called Jake: he is the witness to life on the Hook Road and the events that change that life forever. The book is in some ways like a long poem: the people and the world they inhabit are richly and meticulously described, and the superb writing takes the reader to a world no one will ever see again.