About Christy Ann Conlin

Christy Ann Conlin is a writer, broadcaster, rose enthusiast, and motivational speaker who lives in the Annapolis Valley.

Her acclaimed first novel, Heave (2002), was a Globe and Mail “Top 100” book, a finalist for the Amazon.ca First Novel Award in 2003 and was shortlisted for the Thomas H. Raddall Atlantic Fiction Award and the Dartmouth Book Award. Heave was also longlisted for the 2011 CBC Canada Reads Novels of the Decade. Her novella, Dead Time, was published by Annick Press in 2011. Conlin’s short fiction has appeared in several literary journals. Her non-fiction essays have also appeared in numerous publications and anthologies. Christy Ann also hosted the popular 2012 CBC summer radio series Fear Itself. She teaches at the University of Toronto School of Continuing Studies online Creative Writing program.

Her latest novel, The Memento tells the story of Fancy Mosher as she lives and works in the servants’ quarters at Petal’s End, a mansion belonging to the famed Parker family. Fancy grows up listening to ghost stories and watching the Parkers from a safe distance with her best friend, Art, but the summer she turns twelve she not only learns that her family has been hiding a secret, she also begins to experience first hand the secrets and horrors held within the estate’s walls and buried in its lush gardens.

Come hear Christy Ann Conlin read from her book at the Berwick & District Library on May 31, 6:30 PM.

Our May contest

Enter to win one of two Memento Gift Bags, including a copy of The Memento courtesy of Doubleday Books.

Here’s how to enter:

Superstition & ghosts abound in Christy Ann Conlin’s latest book, The Memento. Tell us a favourite Nova Scotia superstition or name a haunted place.

Answer online with the hashtag #BookClub150, or fill out a ballot at your local library. Contest ends May 31, 2017.

Reading list

Click on a link below to visit www.valleylibrary.ca. Sign in with your AVRL library card, place a hold, and have a copy sent to the Valley Library of your choice.

The Memento

The Memento Book Club in a Bag

Heave: A Novel

Dead Time

April - Sandra and Ron Lightburn

Alexander MacLeod introduces The Memento, a genre bending new novel by author Christy Ann Conlin, at the Halifax book launch of The Memento at The Company House in Halifax, Nova Scotia, on May 31, 2016:

What is Book Club 150?

To celebrate Canada’s 150th birthday, we are highlighting a different Canadian author or illustrator for each month of 2017. To celebrate with us, we encourage you to read the books, join our online conversation, and enter our monthly contests. Our featured books include titles for kids, teens, and adult readers. Pick up a copy at your local library, look for a Book Club in a Bag to share, or find a library Book Club near you. We’ll have special events and contests throughout the year, so be sure to visit our library website at www.valleylibrary.ca, or look for feature posts each month on our new library blog site, RenewYourCuriosity.ca.

Featured storytellers

January 2017

Robert Munsch

February 2017

André Alexis

March 2017

Mariko & Jillian Tamaki

April 2017

Ron & Sandra Lightburn

May 2017

Christy Ann Conlin

June 2017

Julie Flett

July 2017

Marie-Louise Gay

August 2017

Jon Klassen

September 2017

Lawrence Hill

October 2017

Jeff Lemire

November 2017

Sydney Smith 

December 2017

Ami McKay