"A lively, unpredictable mosaic that finds humor, humanity, and wonder in life’s glorious mess."
- The Prairies Book Review
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By author Ryan M. Langlois
Available Now
I don’t think a person can live in any given locality for a prolonged period of time without noticing its peculiarities…
So begins The Berrylove Chronicles, a collection of ten interconnected stories set in the fictional town of Berrylove, Ontario, a familiar yet extraordinary place filled with some very unusual characters. Meet Sebastian, the high school principal who leads a rather flamboyant gang of bikers; Lonnie Cox, the bumbling teenaged superhero; Roland Parks, the ersatz mystic; and Nick Hoyt, who is possibly the unluckiest boy alive—all of whom struggle through hilarity and misadventure, and sometimes tragedy, in the pursuit of masculinity, heroism, and belonging.
Seemingly separate, as each story progresses, these disconnected lives start to intertwine, completing and rewriting each other with small mysteries and misdirections, until a grander master narrative begins to emerge.
Compulsively readable and delightfully entertaining, The Berrylove Chronicles is both an homage to the quirkiness of small-town life and a celebration of universal human experiences, one which asks the reader to consider the extraordinary in the ordinary, and to find the magic in everyday life.
"A deliciously offbeat chronicle of misfits, mishaps, and small-town mayhem...Langlois has a sharp eye for the absurdities of ordinary life, pairing bawdy humor and outrageous mishaps with surprising moments of tenderness."
- The Prairies Book Review
"At times, the tales are poignantly heartwarming; at others, they’re gut-wrenching... An idiosyncratic batch of interconnected, sometimes-troubling tales."
- Kirkus Reviews
"It is a nod to the quirkiness of small town life and an acknowledgment of the everyday heroics (and villainy!) that occur in such places... each featured personality quickly engages the audience and sweeps them into scenes of transformation, isolation, meaning, and purpose"
- Booklife
Ryan M. Langlois is a writer, teacher, and proud Northerner. He has a BA in English Literature from Laurentian University, a Bachelor of Education from Nipissing University, and an MA in English Literature from Carleton University.
He lives in Whitefish, Ontario, just outside of Sudbury, with his wife, Alison, and their three dogs, Lucifer, Monty, and Xena. He dutifully tends his chickens, sheep, goats, and horses, which takes up a lot of his time when he’s not being swarmed by his honeybees or chased by the black bears who hide at the edge of the forest. Between teaching, slinging feed, mending fences, and recording voice-over, he promises he’s working on his next book.