When Sean learns that Lari Edison, owner of the Haunted Bookshop, his childhood comic book store has died, he is transported back to the autumn of 1975, when his ten-year-old preoccupations with great white sharks and superheroes were upended by his stumbling upon information that could both harm his family and ignite tensions across his working-class town. While Sean struggles with his newfound power, the mystery around him, filled with unforgettable characters, unfurls, to create a sweeping story of childhood imagination, hard choices and a vanished way of life along the fishing docks of the Fraser River. In The Marvels of Youth, Tim Bowling has given readers a powerful, mesmerizing novel, much like the river that flows through it.

“Bowling brings an era to life, not with sentimentality, but with recognition of all that is vital – the moments, the people, and the present that is shaped and sustained by that time.”

“Beautifully written, this is a book for readers, and for those looking for reassurance that middle-age doesn’t mark the end of personal creativity.”

“A brilliant novel that successfully reads as poetry combined with aspects of memoir and thought-provoking cultural critique, The Heavy Bear promises there is much that is redeemable in life’s next stage.”

“His writing is beautiful and very poignant, so readers will no doubt take away their own impressions from these moving passages.”

“These essays are filled with quiet wisdom, hard-won insights about everyday life, a stirring love of the natural world, a poignant passion for life heightened by clear-sighted awareness of its brevity, and a rare intimacy and candour, as if Bowling is confiding these stories and thoughts to his closest loved one.”