Sanctuary Line

Solitary, nostalgic Liz Crane returns to her family's now-deserted farmhouse to study the migratory habits of the Monarch butterfly.

A rich family history - all the anecdotes and blarney of successful Irish immigrants - is now tainted with sadness. Her cousin Amanda, a gifted military strategist, has been killed in Afghanistan, a loss foreshadowed by the earlier disappearance of her charismatic father.

Reflecting on the fragility and transcience of human life and relations - mirrored in the Monarchs' restless flight - Liz finds that love is there to be found where you least expect it.

Long-listed for Scotiabank Giller Prize 2010

“'Urquhart's writing is poetic, in the sense that it is beautifully compact and restrained when describing the most powerful emotions' The Times.”

'Urquhart handles the layers of narrative with lyrical aplomb' Susan Elderkin, Financial Times. Financial Times
'A delicate work of rare beauty' Lucy Popescu, Independent. Independent
'Urquhart's style is reminiscent of that of the Pulitzer-winner Marilynne Robinson' Mary Morrissey, Irish Times. Irish Times
'Emotional and atmospheric' The Lady. Lady
The Times
'Urquhart's prose is lovingly and skilfully constructed ... Her sparse plot dances and weaves like a butterfly' Sunday Business Post. Sunday Business Post

Jane Urquhart is the author of six novels including Away (1993), The Stone Carvers (2001) and A Map of Glass (2005), as well as a collection of short fiction and four volumes of poetry. She has written a biography of L.M. Montgomery and is the editor of the Penguin Book of Canadian Short Stories. She lives in Ontario and spends part of the year in Ireland.

Recently returned to Lake Erie, Ontario, to study the migratory patterns of the monarch butterfly, entomologist Liz Crane moves into her family's now-deserted farmhouse. Casting a shadow over her life is the recent death of her cousin Amanda - a gifted military strategist killed in Afghanistan - and the disappearance many years earlier of Amanda's charismatic father. Liz is also haunted by a deeply buried family secret, by four different unexpected love affairs, and by the tragic events that ultimately altered all their futures. A compelling, intricately crafted novel of family legacies, love and betrayal, by one of Canada's outstanding writers.

Solitary, nostalgic Liz Crane returns to her family's now-deserted farmhouse to study the migratory habits of the Monarch butterfly. A rich family history - all the anecdotes and blarney of successful Irish immigrants - is now tainted with sadness. Her cousin Amanda, a gifted military strategist, has been killed in Afghanistan, a loss foreshadowed by the earlier disappearance of her charismatic father. Reflecting on the fragility and transcience of human life and relations - mirrored in the Monarchs' restless flight - Liz finds that love is there to be found where you least expect it.

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