And special thanks to James Grainger, whose critical acumen and keen judgment are matched only by his knowledge of small Toronto bars, his skill at arm-wrestling and his propensity for finding trouble. In the last few years, I’ve learned it’s always best to have cab fare handy and your address written down somewhere when going out “for a drink” with James.
I am blessed to know (and work for, and with) Mel Bolen and Samantha Holmes. A writer could not ask for better employers, fiercer advocates and stronger supporters. Thank you, so much, for the kindness you have shown me, my work and my family. I live in the best of both worlds thanks to you.
And to Sharman King—thank you for the matchmaking, and the start.
To my fellow travelers in the book trade (a finer bunch of people you’ll never meet): I am honored to have spent my adult life in your number.
To my co-workers at Bolen Books (and those in my previous life) I owe a hearty thanks for keeping me down to earth, and suffering my occasional insufferableness. To my fellow booksellers around the province and across the country, I am richer for knowing you. And to my friends and colleagues among the wonderful sales reps in B.C.—why yes, yes I will allow you to buy me a drink. Special kudos to Roni Walker and Trish Kells—my book is in the best of hands.
On the professional side, blessings and thanks to Anne McDermid, the best agent a writer could ask for, and her ever-resourceful and supportive cohorts, past and present. And special thanks to my publicist, Sharon Klein: she’s one of the best in the business, and it’s a pleasure to work with her.
When a book reaches a certain point, it becomes less a force of inspiration and more an act of collaboration. I raise a glass, therefore, to my editor, Kendall Anderson, whose steady hand is on every page, and who probably didn’t realize what she had signed up for; to my publisher, Anne Collins, whose taste and judgment I admired long before it was directed at me; to Marion Garner for her keen eye; and to Louise Dennys, just because.
More than anyone else, though, this book—and my life as a writer—owes everything to my wife, Cori Dusmann. Supportive first reader, fiercest first critic, it is she to and for whom I write. Without her, I hate to even imagine where I would be.
And for Xander, who wasn’t born when this novel was, and who is six-going-on-seven years old as it is published, I promise: the next one has sword-fights, some magic and people jumping heroically off cliffs. No hamsters, though.
ROBERT J. WIERSEMA is a lifelong bookseller and noted critic and reviewer. His writing appears in the Globe and Mail, the National Post, the Vancouver Sun, Quill & Quire magazine and numerous other periodicals. He runs a highly successful author event series at Bolen Books in Victoria, B.C., where he lives with his wife, Cori Dusmann, and their son, Xander.
PRAISE FOR
BEFORE I WAKE
“Tragedies and supernatural miracles are expertly layered with ordinary domestic life…. Before I Wake is a classic thriller: creepy in all the right places and deliciously suspenseful…. He is a gifted storyteller who has graced the Canadian literary landscape with a unique, spellbinding and ultimately uplifting gem.”
The Globe and Mail
“Robert Wiersema…has written an accomplished first novel, the sort of book veteran novelists might well envy.”
National Post
“I wept over this book as I read it, and I’m still haunted by it. Wiersema’s compassion for us all shines through in writing that is vivid and very often disturbingly powerful. He is a beautiful writer, and this is a beautiful book.”
Gail Anderson-Dargatz, author of The Cure for Death by Lightning, A Recipe for Bees and A Rhinestone Button
“This is a wonder to behold. A deft fusion of intimate family story, suspense and religious exploration, Before I Wake is one of those books you just don’t put down until you’ve read the last page…. The climax is a strange and wondrous moment, not quite believable. But then very little of this story is, and somehow that’s not just acceptable, it’s magnificent.”
Edmonton Journal
“It’s a daring book that falls into the can’t-put-it-down category.”
Times Colonist (Victoria)
“A page-turning debut…. It’s Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code meets Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy—an age-old battle between good and evil set against contemporary life.”
CBC.ca
“Before I Wake is a strong debut that showcases a writer with a creative mind and a willingness to let his story unravel to its fullest extent.”
The Vancouver Sun
“Inventively told using cinematic jump cuts and fantastical interventions, Before I Wake provocatively dances along the lines between faith and science, life and death. Robert Wiersema’s first novel shows a writer possessed with the kind of storytelling instincts that make you care about the answer to the one question that really counts: What happens next?”
Andrew Pyper, author of The Wildfire Season
“I read this book in less than three days, over the Christmas holidays with a house full of family and friends, and every time I had to put it down, I found myself compiling lists of people for whom I wanted to buy it. It captured me from the opening page and kept me going, wanting more, because it is a wonderful story, superbly told. The tight, tersely written chapters with their constantly changing points of view had me totally enthralled, because the characters are all utterly believable; every one of them rings true, with no miscues. A wonderful novel from a storyteller who knows what being a master of the craft entails.”
Jack Whyte, author of the Dream of Eagles series
VINTAGE CANADA EDITION, 2007
Copyright © 2006 Robert J. Wiersema
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer, who may quote brief passages in a review.
Published in Canada by Vintage Canada, a division of Random House of Canada Limited, Toronto, in 2007. Originally published in hardcover in Canada by Random House Canada, a division of Random House of Canada Limited, Toronto, in 2006. Distributed by Random House of Canada Limited, Toronto.
Vintage Canada and colophon are registered trademarks of Random House of Canada Limited.
www.randomhouse.ca
LIBRARY AND ARCHIVES CANADA CATALOGUING IN PUBLICATION
Wiersema, Robert J.
Before I wake / Robert J. Wiersema.
eISBN: 978-0-307-37113-3
I. Title.
PS8645.I33B43 2007 C813'.6 C2006-907034-2
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