Seduced by stories of Depression-era work camps and a cross-country march that ended in an historic riot, Edie follows her wandering husband Slim from mine to mine, caring for their son, Belly, beneath the makeshift shelter of canvas tents. But a decade of hardship takes its toll, and after leaving Slim passed out in an unheated apartment, Edie and Belly find themselves trapped on a snowbound train. Edie slips in and out of memory, retelling Slim’s tales both to comfort her son and reinvent herself anew. Together, mother and son ponder their past and possible futures, trying to predict what will happen when they reach their destination.

Vividly inventive, The Time We All Went Marching is an episodic novel of storytelling, memory, and imagination. In this spectacular work of fiction, Arley McNeney reaches deep into the vulnerability of individual perception, holding her readers breathless.

“McNeney is a gifted writer. … McNeney deftly captures the confusion, fear, and joylessness of a people living through their own brand of ‘tough economic times.’ She does us a service by not ‘prettying up the truth.'”
– Vancouver Sun

“Bringing the struggle of working-class men and women in the 1930s and 1940s to life through luminescent prose.”
– Briar Patch Magazine

“The Time We All Went Marching is, by far, the best and most satisfying read I’ve had all year. I fear that not nearly enough people will happen upon it, or have the sincerely good fortune of reading it, and this would be a real shame, because the novel deserves national and lasting recognition. … The Time We All Went Marching is a rare and exciting blend of historical education and investigation, vibrant and compelling characters, important emotional excavation, and stylish and innovative poetics. … Arley McNeney is an author who absolutely deserves a national following.”
– Maple Tree Literary Supplement

“This novel is a stunning achievement. It has the feel of a Michael Ondaatje novel, the same breathtaking language and image, a dream-like quality to the scenes. I may accidentally forget the title of this book, but I will never forget the name Arley McNeney.”
– Globe and Mail

“An amazing work; haunting and imaginative.”
“A fantastic piece of Canadian writing! It covers a period of division and strife in Canada, between political parties, labour and management, and the West and the East.”