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A Town With No Noise

By (author): Karen Smythe

Samara and J., a struggling young couple, are off to J.’s birthplace, Upton Bay, a small town turned upscale theatre and winery destination. Sam has been hired by an editor friend to write a promotional piece about the place while she and J. stay with his grandfather Otto, a prominent businessman in his day. But their visit does not go as planned. Sam’s explorations of Upton’s tourist attractions lead her to ugly truths behind the quaint little town’s façade—discoveries that are counterpointed with vignettes of the town’s wealthy, elderly ruling class, painting a different picture than the one Sam’s friend expects her to provide. Tensions between Sam and J. worsen as J.’s true nature emerges and Sam begins to question both his values and his family’s past—especially after Otto tells them stories about his time as a German soldier during WW2. Back in the city, Sam’s opinions and judgments about what is right and wrong are tested when a shocking truth surfaces about her grandmother’s flight from Norway after the war, profoundly changing Sam’s understanding of who she is and who she wants to become. In A Town with No Noise, fact and fiction combine to ask difficult questions about the communities we build, questions that are as relevant today as ever: Who stays? Who is chased away? And who decides?

AUTHOR

Karen Smythe

Karen Smythe is the author of a short-story collection, Stubborn Bones, and Figuring Grief, a groundbreaking analysis of the depiction of mourning in fiction by Mavis Gallant, Alice Munro, Virginia Woolf, Edna O’Brien, and others. Her stories have also appeared in Grain, the Fiddlehead, the Antigonish Review, and the Gaspereau Review. She lives in Guelph, Ontario.

Reviews

Samara and J a struggling young couple are off to Js birthplace Upton Bay a small town turned upscale theatre and winery destination Sam has been hired by an editor friend to write a promotional piece about the place while she and J stay with his grandfather Otto a prominent businessman in his day But their visit does not go as planned Sams explorations of Uptons tourist attractions lead her to ugly truths behind the quaint little towns faadediscoveries that are counterpointed with vignettes of the towns wealthy elderly ruling class painting a different picture than the one Sams friend expects her to provide Tensions between Sam and J worsen as Js true nature emerges and Sam begins to question both his values and his familys pastespecially after Otto tells them stories about his time as a German soldier during WW2 Back in the city Sams opinions and judgments about what is right and wrong are tested when a shocking truth surfaces about her grandmothers flight from Norway after the war profoundly changing Sams understanding of who she is and who she wants to become In A Town with No Noise fact and fiction combine to ask difficult questions about the communities we build questions that are as relevant today as ever Who stays Who is chased away And who decides

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Details

Dimensions:

Pages

310.00gr.60in5.25in * 8.25in

Published:

May 15, 2025

Publisher:

Palimpsest Press

ISBN:

9781990293924

Book Subjects:

FICTION / Literary

Featured In:

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Language:

01

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