George and Rue - Hardcover

Clarke, George Elliott

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1843432609 ISBN 13: 9781843432609

Publisher: The Harvill Press, 2005

Synopsis

The facts are clear. It was, by all accounts, a "slug-ugly" crime. In 1949, George and Rufus Hamilton bludgeoned a taxi driver to death with a hammer in the dirt-poor settlement of Barker's Point, New Brunswick. Less than eight months later, the brothers were hanged for their crime. George and Rue's brutal act lives on in New Brunswick over half a century later, where the murder site is still known as "Hammertown". George Elliott Clark draws from this disturbing chapter in Canadian history in his first novel, brilliantly reimagining the lives - and deaths - of the two brothers. Fiercely human and startlingly poignant, "George & Rue" sifts seamlessly through the killers' pasts, examining just what kind of forces would reduce these men to lives of crime, violence, and ultimately, murder. In this richly evocative and bleakly comic tale, we also come to know the story of an impoverished Africadian community, powerless to help its people, and of a white community bent on viewing all blacks as dangerous outsiders. Infused with the sensual, rhythmic beauty that is the hallmark of George Elliott Clarke's writing, "George & Rue" is an unforgettable fiction debut.

About this title

About the Author

George Elliott Clarke is an award-winning poet, playwright and screenwriter. He is the author of six collections of poetry and a winner of the Governor General's Award in 2001. A seventh-generation African Canadian, Clarke was born in Windsor, Nova Scotia, near the community of Three Mile Plains. He is an associate professor of English at the University of Toronto.

Edition details

• Publisher: The Harvill Press
• Publication date: 2005
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1843432609
• ISBN 13: 9781843432609
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 240