One Brother Shy (2017)

Behind the novel: 6

The kick-off event for Stormont-Dundas-Glengarry Reads when One Brother Shy was chosen as their 2018 selection.

This week, I’m reminiscing about my fifth novel, One Brother Shy. It hit bookstores back in May of 2017 and represents a slight departure from my other novels. It’s the story of a young software engineer, Alex MacAskill, who, ten years after a serious high school trauma, is still not the person he was on track to be. He remains in recovery, in therapy, and painfully shy. In fact, as a device in the novel, I use italics to show the reader what Alex says in his head—what he wants to say out loud—and I use the traditional quotations marks to indicate what he actually says.

Alex, a young software engineer, works for a leading facial recognition software company in Ottawa, called Facetech, and takes care of his mother as she battles a terminal lung disease called Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis. As well, he’s never known his father. In fact, he knows nothing about him, not even his name. His mother is declining fast and dies very early in the novel leaving in her wake—and in her safety deposit box—a family mystery.

A photograph in a safety deposit box kickstarts this story.

After his mother’s passing, Alex discovers evidence suggesting that when he was born, an identical twin brother was also delivered. This kicks off the novel and sets Alex off on a journey in search of his twin brother and eventually his father.

The title of the novel has a double meaning—not the first time I’ve chosen a title that has more than one meaning (e.g. Poles Apart and Albatross). Not only is Alex very shy, he’s also short (or shy) one identical twin brother.

The roots of the story

I’ve said often that I write what I know. Well that isn’t entirely the case for this novel. Yes, I’m an identical twin, so it was perhaps inevitable that I would one day write a novel about twins. One Brother Shy is it.

Growing up with an identical twin brother meant I’d one day write about twins.

My twin brother, Tim (left) and yours truly (the paler one) flipping off our dock at the family cottage in our early twenties back when my body fat was slightly lower.

But the cyber-bullying aspect of this story is not rooted in any personal experience. I just thought it was an important societal issue that was—and still is—costing lives, often of young people. There’s also a love story—perhaps two—lurking in the undergrowth of this novel.

There are other aspects of the story with which I have a personal connection. Of course, I lived in Ottawa for a while and know that city well. There is a loose connection to hockey in the story—in particular, the 1972 Summit Series between Canada and the Society Union. Hockey has been a part of my life for almost all of my nearly 63 years.

Soviet Union National Hockey Team (1972 Summit Series).

While I am not a software engineer, I do have a mechanical engineering degree from McMaster. There is also a diabolical boss from hell in the story with whom the ultra-shy Alex must deal. I have never suffered under a boss from hell, but I have worked alongside a couple in my career. The novel also dabbles in Cold War espionage, so, yes, there are several strands in the story that I hope come together in a cohesive whole. I think of Alex’s journey in the novel as a kind of quest.

I noted above that this novel may be seen as a departure from my previous offerings. You see, until One Brother Shy, I’d never written a narrator who is damaged and still trying to find himself ten years after that high school trauma to which I’ve already alluded. Sure, my previous narrators have all been flawed—some combination of helpless, hapless, and hopeless—but you get the sense that they’re going to be all right. It’s not clear when One Brother Shy opens that Alex is in fact ever going to be all right. I think that’s why this novel is slightly different from my others. But I still hope there are laughs-a-plenty in the story.

For those of you who have already read One Brother Shy and are wondering how I came up with the somewhat disturbing and traumatic event known in the novel simply as “Gabriel,” well, I honestly have no idea. I just tried to think of the worst thing that could ever happen to a 15 year old guy in front of his entire high school.

The settings in the novel include Ottawa, London, Moscow (and Yaroslavl), with a quick trip to New York City thrown in for good measure.

Settings in One Brother Shy (Ottawa, London, Moscow, New York).

The novel tackles the longterm psychological effects of trauma and the exacerbating impact of social media. But I still consider this to be a funny and ultimately hopeful story.

When One Brother Shy hit bookstores

The novel was released on May 30, 2017 and was greeted warmly by booksellers and readers alike.

On launch day, I found myself giving a talk in a hockey arena in Colborne, Ontario.

It landed on the bestsellers list in the first week and went to #1 in the second week. It somehow hung around on the bestsellers list for many weeks thereafter. Thank you all!

I did quite a bit of media in the week of the novel’s launch including an interview on Global Television. (Click here, or on the image below, to watch the interview.)

There were several reviews of One Brother Shy from mainstream media including the Globe and Mail, Toronto Star, and this one from the Winnipeg Free Press:

While it may not be my most popular novel, it continues to sell well more than five years later. Earlier this year, McClelland & Stewart released a new edition of One Brother Shy with a brand new cover, which I think I prefer to the original version.

I have very fond memories of what I sometimes think of as my “departure novel” and I’m gratified that it was so well received, by critics and readers alike.

Next week? Right now I have no idea. But seven days from now we’ll all know. Thanks for checking in and do subscribe if you haven’t already. Have a great week.