The Abandoned

Among the strip malls, industrial parks and overpasses of Southwestern Ontario, Tim is a young misfit with an overactive imagination and a heavy-drinking father, surrounded by bullies at school and wondering if he’ll ever be normal. He experiences first love with another high school student, Sherrie, and at the same time he meets his first friend, Russ. In pursuing Sherrie, Tim is drawn into a cult-like religious retreat, and his friendship with Russ takes a strange turn as the three teenagers confront their vanishing childhood. The Abandoned is the dense and dazzling follow up to Harness’s critically acclaimed novel, Wigford Rememberies. Praise for Wigford Rememberies: “Pen in hand, there seems to be nothing Harness cannot do.”—The Globe and Mail “Kyp Harness’ prose has a unique flow: word and action, thought and thing are all contiguous and combined in lovely braided sentences. There’s some Joyce splashed around Wigford Rememberies, a satisfying read. This is a fantastic book. Please just read it.”—Tony Burgess “Told with unshrinking honesty and real compassion …these characters and their stories will linger with readers.”—Publishers Weekly