Kim Moritsugu

The Restoration of Emily

Kim Moritsugu

Architect and single mother Emily Harada has structured a well-ordered existence around her work restoring historic houses and the parenting of her teenage son, Jesse. But her carefully laid foundation cracks when she develops a nagging ache in her shoulder, has her architectural integrity questioned, and feels shut out by Jesse's assertions of independence. What she doesn't need right now – or does she? – are the romantic attentions of a former student, an attractive but much younger man. Or for an old acquaintance to resurface with questions about a Bronze Age artifact that Emily might have, uh, stolen, once upon a time, in her youth. Emily, her son, and the 2,000-year-old artifact all come of age in this funny and moving novel about motherhood, middle age, and one woman's attempt to restore herself to a state of grace that combines the best elements of past and present, old and new.

The Glenwood Treasure

Kim Moritsugu

Short-listed for the 2004 Arthur Ellis Award for Best Novel After her marriage breaks down, shy schoolteacher Blithe Morrison takes refuge for the summer with her parents in the affluent Toronto neighbourhood of Rose Park. Blithe’s return home evokes memories of her lifelong sibling war with Noel, her golden-boy older brother, now a diplomat posted in England. But when Blithe befriends a lonely 11-year-old girl and takes on a local history project, she uncovers truths about a long-rumoured buried treasure that forever alter her perceptions of her family, her friends, and herself. Historic homes, ravines, and family secrets all figure in The Glenwood Treasure , a curl-up-and-enjoy novel that updates the traditions of such suspense classics as Josephine Tey’s Brat Farrar and Daphne DuMaurier’s Rebecca .