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Evening Snow Will Bring Such Peace
Cindi and Ivan Basterache have been married only twenty months. There is a disagreement over a loan, and rumours of violence in the ensuing quarrel begin to spread throughout the northern New Brunswick mill town in which they live, setting in motion a series of events and misunderstandings. As Ivan struggles to reconcile with Cindi, the community turns against him, fuelled by his father’s self-deluded lies and misguided attempts to set things right, exposing the other side of good intentions and leading to the novel’s powerful conclusion. Disturbing, tender-hearted, and at times darkly humorous, Evening Snow Will Bring Such Peace reveals the strange unrecognized power in us all to shape one another’s destinies.
From the Hardcover edition.
From the Hardcover edition.
240 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1990
3 people are currently reading
147 people want to read
About the author
David Adams Richards
43Ìýbooks199ÌýfollowersDavid Adams Richards (born 17 October 1950) is a Canadian novelist, essayist, screenwriter and poet.
Born in Newcastle, New Brunswick, Richards left St. Thomas University in Fredericton, New Brunswick, one course shy of completing a B.A. Richards has been a writer-in-residence at various universities and colleges across Canada, including the University of New Brunswick.
Richards has received numerous awards including 2 Gemini Awards for scriptwriting for Small Gifts and "For Those Who Hunt The Wounded Down", the Alden Nowlan Award for Excellence in the Arts, and the Canadian Authors Association Award for his novel Evening Snow Will Bring Such Peace. Richards is one of only three writers to have won in both the fiction and non-fiction categories of the Governor General's Award. He won the 1988 fiction award for Nights Below Station Street and the 1998 non-fiction award for Lines on the Water: A Fisherman's Life on the Miramichi. He was also a co-winner of the 2000 Giller Prize for Mercy Among the Children.
In 1971, he married the former Peggy MacIntyre. They have two sons, John Thomas and Anton Richards, and currently reside in Toronto.
John Thomas was born in 1989 in Saint John, New Brunswick.
The Writers' Federation of New Brunswick administers an annual David Adams Richards Award for Fiction.
Richards' papers are currently housed at the University of New Brunswick.
Born in Newcastle, New Brunswick, Richards left St. Thomas University in Fredericton, New Brunswick, one course shy of completing a B.A. Richards has been a writer-in-residence at various universities and colleges across Canada, including the University of New Brunswick.
Richards has received numerous awards including 2 Gemini Awards for scriptwriting for Small Gifts and "For Those Who Hunt The Wounded Down", the Alden Nowlan Award for Excellence in the Arts, and the Canadian Authors Association Award for his novel Evening Snow Will Bring Such Peace. Richards is one of only three writers to have won in both the fiction and non-fiction categories of the Governor General's Award. He won the 1988 fiction award for Nights Below Station Street and the 1998 non-fiction award for Lines on the Water: A Fisherman's Life on the Miramichi. He was also a co-winner of the 2000 Giller Prize for Mercy Among the Children.
In 1971, he married the former Peggy MacIntyre. They have two sons, John Thomas and Anton Richards, and currently reside in Toronto.
John Thomas was born in 1989 in Saint John, New Brunswick.
The Writers' Federation of New Brunswick administers an annual David Adams Richards Award for Fiction.
Richards' papers are currently housed at the University of New Brunswick.
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
May 26, 2015
Of course you don't always know where you are going � but for some reason all movements happen because they were meant to.
There's a sense of inevitable tragedy at the heart of and David Adams Richards is so masterful at introducing characters and then subverting the reader's assumptions about them that, while nothing is as it initially seems, the reader doesn't feel tricked � just satisfied when deeper truths are revealed.
The book opens with a fight between 22-year-old Ivan Basterache and his wife of twenty months; the slow-witted, epileptic Cindi. Ivan looks like a monster (there was a shotgun involved that sent Cindi running into the night in just her underwear), but as the story develops, Ivan is revealed to be a noble and loyal soul. Others shun him as “puritanical� � no fun at all � but Ivan is the friend you want around to stare down your bullies, pay off your debts, solve your coyote problem (even if Ivan is sympathetic towards a coyote mama who is just trying to protect her kits).
Ivan walked right up to him, with a boldness he always had, his eyes very bright and yet always a little detached from the moment; the eyes, in fact, of a person who has survived and lived by himself, without much help in early youth from anyone � neither mother nor father.
As his separation from Cindi drags out, bored neighbours stir up trouble, taking Cindi's side against Ivan, until rumours become fact and even his own father wants to ingratiate himself with others in the community by bad-talking his own son.
Antony's story was the same one at all times. It was just presented differently, with an indefinable self-deception and a lasting hope that the best points in it were true. And it had become clear now that his side lay with people who had made light of him, ridiculed his family, cheated him out of money, defamed his wife, bore false witness to his son, and held him in contempt.
This is a relatively short book but its mood and characters are just so truthful � I know these people; I'm related to these people � and it was a delight to dip a toe in David Adams Richards' New Brunswick once again.
January 24, 2019
Ivan, you were the only one in that meddlesome town with any real heart. All of the others made me sick. Except maybe Rudolph the horse.
January 29, 2021
I am so glad that I .....am finished this book. I am relieved that it was short. I am horrified that I actually hated reading a book by a Canadian set in New Brunswick. I love Canada and try to read lots of Canadian lit. I missed something. I missed everything. I have never been so happy to put down a book. I did not DNF it because I really tried to find something redeeming about it. I don't recall ever giving out a 1 star rating before. If I have, it's been a while.
If you are teasing out the fact that I did not enjoy this, you are correct. I found the characters shallow and selfish. I didn't find anyone to root for, except the horses. Them, I felt sorry for. I won't even get into the moose scene except to say that I skipped most of it and should have skipped all of it. Who was there to like here? Who was there to keep me grounded, interested? If I want to read about people I dislike I will read more of the news. Yes, I'm looking at you Republicans of the USA! Of Julie Payette...
I will now turn to the third book of March because I know there I will find people to aspire to be like, themes that matter and something to make me think higher thoughts. There will also be those mostly white people (like me) who I will despise. Still,I can't wait.
If you are teasing out the fact that I did not enjoy this, you are correct. I found the characters shallow and selfish. I didn't find anyone to root for, except the horses. Them, I felt sorry for. I won't even get into the moose scene except to say that I skipped most of it and should have skipped all of it. Who was there to like here? Who was there to keep me grounded, interested? If I want to read about people I dislike I will read more of the news. Yes, I'm looking at you Republicans of the USA! Of Julie Payette...
I will now turn to the third book of March because I know there I will find people to aspire to be like, themes that matter and something to make me think higher thoughts. There will also be those mostly white people (like me) who I will despise. Still,I can't wait.
Read
October 1, 2021Ivan Basterache is the latest of Richards' "difficult" men who is more than he seems on the surface. Sadly, in retrospect, it is here that Richards seems to begin to present variations on the same basic theme in every novel he writes. An isolated individual, misunderstood, underrated, more intelligent than most people begin to suspect (though sometimes in ways not measured on IQ tests) becomes even more alienated from the rest of the people on "the river." Lies, envy, relentless "get even with" thinking, a sense of entitlement, jealousy and just plain love of gossip fuel the fires (often literal) that swirl around the alienated character until, usually though not always, in a fit of violent uproar instigated by something that is probably irrelevant (or, at least, deliberately misunderstood), the alienated individual is destroyed. Some do survive. Some do reach major milestones. But most are dead, even if, in the end, they "win." I am amongst the most reviled of character types in the books--the Canadian Literary Academic--therefore every criticism I make should be taken with the proverbial grain of salt. And I'm not kidding about that. Richards has been quoted as saying that his work is a "great defense" of those with whom he grew up; I don't see much defending going on. Much honesty, absolutely. But also much ugly, much unfortunate, much unreasonable, much irrational, and much malignant.
April 21, 2020
David Adams Richards's novels break my heart. They are gritty, bare to the bones and the reality of the character's lives hits you right in the gut. His novels are about societies on the edge, the underdogs. He always captures the essence of the human spirit, be it good or bad. A true talent!
May 13, 2020
Another Richards' tale set in New Brunswick, this one tells of Ivan and Cindi. Like most of his stories, it features deception, long-held secrets, characters functioning at half-capacity and it concludes wonderfully.
November 16, 2024
I will read anything by this author � a great Canadian writer .
December 29, 2010
Dec. 08, 20101
bleak depiction of how certain events can't be dealt with truthfully by communities and/or by individuals. we simplify things to make them manageable and in the process obscure important aspects or details of the event.
I find myself wondering why Ivan lets himself fall into the role he is assigned.
all of the relationships in the book seem so toxic.
Dec. 20, 2010
So, I finished this book and thought it was maybe the most depressing Canadian work of fiction I have yet encountered (which admittedly does not include that many titles). The only likeable character is Ivan, and we never get that close to him really.
Interestingly, I just started Tinkers and it also deals with a character that has epilepsy (Cindi, Ivan's wife has epilepsy and it figures in the events of the story).
LB
bleak depiction of how certain events can't be dealt with truthfully by communities and/or by individuals. we simplify things to make them manageable and in the process obscure important aspects or details of the event.
I find myself wondering why Ivan lets himself fall into the role he is assigned.
all of the relationships in the book seem so toxic.
Dec. 20, 2010
So, I finished this book and thought it was maybe the most depressing Canadian work of fiction I have yet encountered (which admittedly does not include that many titles). The only likeable character is Ivan, and we never get that close to him really.
Interestingly, I just started Tinkers and it also deals with a character that has epilepsy (Cindi, Ivan's wife has epilepsy and it figures in the events of the story).
LB
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Read
November 17, 2010well I'll have to go and find this again because in my 1995 notebook it says: read 3 pages of David Adam Richard's 'ESWBSP' and already know it's a great book, marvellously dense and straightforward, direct and subtle. Canadian. But I can't remember a thing about it - can't have been that good...
February 10, 2013
Darkly humorous. As usual Richards writes a story about an unlikey hero, Ivan Basterache, who is ostracized by local society and set apart by the dominant group. Richards explores how he remains faithful to his nobler instincts and the consequences of doing so. Richards continues to impress me with his stories and makes me laugh out loud, despite the depressing nature of them.
August 18, 2014
This is the second book in the Miramichi Trilogy. I really enjoy David Adams Richards books. His insight into human nature & his character studies are great. This tragedy is no exception. Rather dark, yet with humour. The idea that everything we do has repercussions that go on & on is fascinating.
March 13, 2008
This is my all-time favourite David Adams Richards. I had to read it a few times for an essay I was writing and each time it got better. I'm a huge fan of this author and would also recommend Bay of Love and Sorrows.
September 4, 2011
Recently re-read this one, studying its technique. Another favourite, and it has one of the funniest and best constructed openings in Canadian fictions. Hard qiestions about community and responsibility.
November 29, 2013
If this is a sequel to Nights below Stn. St., then I had better read it again. I do not remember the characters from it. Of the DAR books I have read, this was the least "enjoyable". What I liked best was its 'Canadian-ness', its Northern New Brunswick-ness, its Acadian-ness.
May 25, 2010
Hmm. This story didn't have any real hero to cheer for.
March 19, 2012
Amazing. Sobering. Heart breaking. Best book I've read in ages. I needed this.
April 12, 2014
I think the reader needed to have an understanding of Acadian history in order to gain an appreciation for this book.
Want to read
August 3, 2010NCL.2006-10-01
November 22, 2013
Huh, have read and loved two others of his books, but this one just didn't do it for me.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
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