The Healer

When Tim Wakelin, recently a widower, heads north in search of a story about a local healer named Caroline Troyer, he enters a world that is real yet strange. Familiar landmarks disappear and extraordinary events unfold as his life becomes intertwined with hers. Even the landscape itself - the ancient rocks, myriad lakes, and cathedral forests of the Canadian Shield - becomes a source of threat. How can he understand this strange and beautiful woman when he is no longer sure why he has really come or what is happening to him? Until now, Caroline's life has been dominated by her parents: her cunning father, Ross, who has exerted an unspoken power over her since she was a child; and Ardis, her weak yet abusive mother. Aware that her ability to heal is only part of a mysterious process of transformation that she is undergoing, Caroline must break free of the chains of her family. Perhaps Tim can provide the sanctuary she needs, if he has the strength to survive the violent forces unleashed by his arrival.

Prize history

• Giller Prize

  1998

  Shortlist