Description
In the summer of 1977, disillusioned Toronto journalist Jeff O’Brian is assigned a perfunctory article marking the 60th anniversary of Canadian painter Tom Thomson’s death. Once known for his sharp investigative reporting, O’Brian now finds himself covering art gallery exhibitions—
until a strange painting pulls him off the page and into a mystery long left unspoken. At a gallery showing, O’Brian encounters Larry Dickson’s Cabin, a quiet landscape painting attributed to Thomson. Though seemingly benign, the image—a snow-lined path, a lakeside cabin, and two distant figures—unnerves him.
When he shows the painting to Daphne Crombie, a reclusive elderly woman who once knew Thomson personally, her reaction is immediate and violent. She throws him out of her home, shaken and afraid. The incident sparks O’Brian’s instincts: something about this painting is triggering a memory far more real than artistic interpretation. As he continues digging, O’Brian uncovers a trail not of cover-ups, but of forgotten voices and long-ignored details. His search ultimately leads him to the remote shoreline depicted in the painting, where the novel’s emotional and narrative climax unfolds. Alternating between 1977 and 1917 and finally concluding in a chilling final revelation, it is Daphne’s own suppressed memory—reawakened by the painting—that brings the truth to light: a confrontation on a cold spring afternoon, a violent accident, and a body weighted down and hidden beneath the still waters of Canoe Lake.
Rather than exposing a conspiracy, Larry Dickson’s Cabin is a mystery about how truth can hide in plain sight—not because it’s covered up, but because no one ever thought to look at it closely enough. Inspired by the real-life mystery of Tom Thomson’s death, the novel explores themes of
memory, guilt, and the silent power of art to reveal what history forgets.
Details
Publisher - Jack Pine Publishing
Language - English
Perfect Bound
Contributors
By author
John Little
R.J. Anderson
Published Date - 2025-11-29
ISBN - 9781069784704
Dimensions - 21.6 x 13.8 x 1.8 cm
Page Count - 332
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