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Rabbit Foot Bill
A lonely boy in a prairie town befriends a local outsider in 1947 and then witnesses a shocking murder. Based on a true story. Canwood, Saskatchewan, 1947. Leonard Flint, a lonely boy in a small farming town befriends the local outsider, a man known as Rabbit Foot Bill. Bill doesn’t talk much, but he allows Leonard to accompany him as he sets rabbit snares and to visit his small, secluded dwelling. Being with Bill is everything to young Leonard—an escape from school, bullies and a hard father. So his shock is absolute when he witnesses Bill commit a sudden violent act and loses him to prison. Fifteen years on, as a newly graduated doctor of psychiatry, Leonard arrives at the Weyburn Mental Hospital, both excited and intimidated by the massive institution known for its experimental LSD trials. To Leonard’s great surprise, at the Weyburn he is reunited with Bill and soon becomes fixated on discovering what happened on that fateful day in 1947. Based on a true story, this page-turning novel from a master stylist examines the frailty and resilience of the human mind.
240 pages, Hardcover
First published August 18, 2020
50 people are currently reading
1,943 people want to read
About the author
Helen Humphreys
36books412followersHelen Humphreys is the author of five books of poetry, eleven novels, and three works of non-fiction. She was born in Kingston-on-Thames, England, and now lives in Kingston, Ontario, Canada.
Her first novel, Leaving Earth (1997), won the 1998 City of Toronto Book Award and was a New York Times Notable Book of the Year. Her second novel, Afterimage (2000), won the 2000 Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize, was nominated for the Commonwealth Writers' Prize, and was a New York Times Notable Book of the Year. Her third novel, The Lost Garden (2002), was a 2003 Canada Reads selection, a national bestseller, and was also a New York Times Notable Book of the Year. Wild Dogs (2004) won the 2005 Lambda Prize for fiction, has been optioned for film, and was produced as a stage play at CanStage in Toronto in the fall of 2008. Coventry (2008) was a #1 national bestseller, was chosen as one of the top 100 books of the year by the Globe & Mail, and was chosen one of the top ten books of the year by both the Ottawa Citizen and NOW Magazine.
Humphreys's work of creative non-fiction, The Frozen Thames (2007), was a #1 national bestseller. Her collections of poetry include Gods and Other Mortals (1986); Nuns Looking Anxious, Listening to Radios (1990); and, The Perils of Geography (1995). Her latest collection, Anthem (1999), won the 2000 Canadian Authors Association Award for Poetry.
Helen Humphreys's fiction is published in Canada by HarperCollins, and in the U.S. by W.W. Norton. The Frozen Thames was published by McClelland & Stewart in Canada, and by Bantam in the U.S. Her work has been translated into many languages.
Her first novel, Leaving Earth (1997), won the 1998 City of Toronto Book Award and was a New York Times Notable Book of the Year. Her second novel, Afterimage (2000), won the 2000 Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize, was nominated for the Commonwealth Writers' Prize, and was a New York Times Notable Book of the Year. Her third novel, The Lost Garden (2002), was a 2003 Canada Reads selection, a national bestseller, and was also a New York Times Notable Book of the Year. Wild Dogs (2004) won the 2005 Lambda Prize for fiction, has been optioned for film, and was produced as a stage play at CanStage in Toronto in the fall of 2008. Coventry (2008) was a #1 national bestseller, was chosen as one of the top 100 books of the year by the Globe & Mail, and was chosen one of the top ten books of the year by both the Ottawa Citizen and NOW Magazine.
Humphreys's work of creative non-fiction, The Frozen Thames (2007), was a #1 national bestseller. Her collections of poetry include Gods and Other Mortals (1986); Nuns Looking Anxious, Listening to Radios (1990); and, The Perils of Geography (1995). Her latest collection, Anthem (1999), won the 2000 Canadian Authors Association Award for Poetry.
Helen Humphreys's fiction is published in Canada by HarperCollins, and in the U.S. by W.W. Norton. The Frozen Thames was published by McClelland & Stewart in Canada, and by Bantam in the U.S. Her work has been translated into many languages.
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November 11, 2024
SPELLBOUND - IO TI SALVERÒ
Il titolo originale del romanzo è "Rabbit Foot Bill": William “B� Dunn prepara i piedi di coniglio ritenuti portafortuna.
La prima cosa che mi ha colpito è come nel primo capitolo, quando Leonard Flint, il narratore dell’intero romanzo, ha solo dodici anni, quanto sia stata abile Helen Humphries a mettersi alla sua ‘altezza�, scegliendo una lingua né troppo consapevole né artificiosa né leziosa: semplicemente, sembra davvero di sentir parlare un ragazzino dodicenne, bullizzato senza particolare motivo (perché è in paese da ‘solo� due anni, perché è più basso dei bulli, perché i bulli trovano sempre una buona ragione per tormentarlo), figlio di un padre anaffettivo, affascinato da Bill Zampa-di-Coniglio, che non è un homeless perché a suo modo una casa la possiede, che non è un vagabondo perché invece è stanziale: Bill si trova più a suo agio negli spazi aperti, nella natura, in compagnia degli animali piuttosto che dei suoi simili (dei primi non gli disturba il rumore che producono, riesce a capirlo, sa cosa fanno quando fanno rumore: non altrettanto coi secondi), vive in una ‘casa� che ha scavato nella collina, vive uccidendo conigli per poi rivendere le zampe portafortuna. Vive anche di piccoli lavori, sempre rigorosamente all’aria aperta, tipo potare una siepe.
Canwood nella provincia del Saskatchewan in Canada come appare oggi: 236 abitanti. È qui che inizia e si svolge gran parte della storia del romanzo.
Un giorno, senza segnali di nessun tipo, Bill uccide un ragazzino coetaneo del narratore: è il capetto della banda di bulli. L’ha fatto perché ha oltrepassato un confine: gli è andato troppo vicino, o forse perché martirizzava il suo giovane amico Leonard “Lenny� Flint. E quindi ha ucciso in difesa di un offeso.
Bill è il padre che Lenny non ha, e vorrebbe avere. È suo fratello maggiore. È il suo unico amico. È un modello. È ispirazione.
Nella laconicità di Bill, nella sua ‘selvaggia� semplicità pressoché primordiale.
Per gli adulti, invece, Bill è un disturbo, è troppo diverso, non rispetta le regole, non rientra nei canoni: è un nemico.
Il Weyburn Mental Hospital inaugurato nel 1921 ha chiuso i battenti nel 2006. Nel 1959, all’epoca di questa storia, aveva milleottocento malati in cura.
Dodici anni dopo, e quindi dal 1947 si salta al 1959, Leonard Flint è un giovane psichiatra appena assunto in un immenso ospedale psichiatrico, il Wyburn, dove si curano mille ottocento pazienti, a vari livelli di disturbo mentale, per prepararli a reinserirsi nella società. L’ospedale è all’avanguardia per questo e per gli esperimenti con l’LSD, che veniva assunto dai terapeuti insieme ai pazienti (e quindi, esattamente chi è che guidava chi?).
Leonard Flint si sente sin dal principio fuori posto. Più che una questione di spazio, si tratta di ruolo: ha un trauma ancora talmente tanto irrisolto, deve ancora guarire così tante ferite personali, che giacciono più o meno sepolte nel suo inconscio, che ha difficoltà a essere un medico in camice bianco, un terapeuta. Come può aiutare i suoi pazienti se è lui il primo ad avere bisogno di aiuto? Come può farli guarire se lui stesso per primo è profondamente ferito?
Saskatchewan
Preferisco non raccontare altro: è una storia particolare che merita d’essere scoperta pagina dopo pagina. Una storia piena di dolore, dei danni che un essere umano può creare nella vita di un suo simile, piena di profonda comprensione della natura umana.
E piena di bellezza.
Bellezza di cui ringraziare Helen Humphreys per come struttura e dipana la sua trama, e per come la racconta e scrive. Davvero una scrittrice da tenere stretta al cuore.
Un giorno ti svegli e sta arrivando l’inverno.
August Strindberg che al Weyburn Mental Hospital veniva ricordato per aver tentato di fotografare la sua anima.
C’� sempre un luogo fuori dalla storia, da dove questa stessa storia viene raccontata. Non può essere narrata da dentro. Come potrebbe? Dev’essersi conclusa prima che si possa raccontare. Ci devono essere un inizio, un centro e una fine, e il narratore deve conoscere tutte le parti. Sin dal principio, deve poter vedere la fine, come se stesse in cima a una collina decisamente alta e spingesse lo sguardo lontano. Ma capita che in una storia ci siano momenti che possono funzionare da finale, che lo sembrino. Se la storia si fosse interrotta qui, sarebbe andato tutto bene. Avrebbe avuto un lieto fine.
Helen Humphreys a spasso con il cane.
Il titolo originale del romanzo è "Rabbit Foot Bill": William “B� Dunn prepara i piedi di coniglio ritenuti portafortuna.
La prima cosa che mi ha colpito è come nel primo capitolo, quando Leonard Flint, il narratore dell’intero romanzo, ha solo dodici anni, quanto sia stata abile Helen Humphries a mettersi alla sua ‘altezza�, scegliendo una lingua né troppo consapevole né artificiosa né leziosa: semplicemente, sembra davvero di sentir parlare un ragazzino dodicenne, bullizzato senza particolare motivo (perché è in paese da ‘solo� due anni, perché è più basso dei bulli, perché i bulli trovano sempre una buona ragione per tormentarlo), figlio di un padre anaffettivo, affascinato da Bill Zampa-di-Coniglio, che non è un homeless perché a suo modo una casa la possiede, che non è un vagabondo perché invece è stanziale: Bill si trova più a suo agio negli spazi aperti, nella natura, in compagnia degli animali piuttosto che dei suoi simili (dei primi non gli disturba il rumore che producono, riesce a capirlo, sa cosa fanno quando fanno rumore: non altrettanto coi secondi), vive in una ‘casa� che ha scavato nella collina, vive uccidendo conigli per poi rivendere le zampe portafortuna. Vive anche di piccoli lavori, sempre rigorosamente all’aria aperta, tipo potare una siepe.
Canwood nella provincia del Saskatchewan in Canada come appare oggi: 236 abitanti. È qui che inizia e si svolge gran parte della storia del romanzo.
Un giorno, senza segnali di nessun tipo, Bill uccide un ragazzino coetaneo del narratore: è il capetto della banda di bulli. L’ha fatto perché ha oltrepassato un confine: gli è andato troppo vicino, o forse perché martirizzava il suo giovane amico Leonard “Lenny� Flint. E quindi ha ucciso in difesa di un offeso.
Bill è il padre che Lenny non ha, e vorrebbe avere. È suo fratello maggiore. È il suo unico amico. È un modello. È ispirazione.
Nella laconicità di Bill, nella sua ‘selvaggia� semplicità pressoché primordiale.
Per gli adulti, invece, Bill è un disturbo, è troppo diverso, non rispetta le regole, non rientra nei canoni: è un nemico.
Il Weyburn Mental Hospital inaugurato nel 1921 ha chiuso i battenti nel 2006. Nel 1959, all’epoca di questa storia, aveva milleottocento malati in cura.
Dodici anni dopo, e quindi dal 1947 si salta al 1959, Leonard Flint è un giovane psichiatra appena assunto in un immenso ospedale psichiatrico, il Wyburn, dove si curano mille ottocento pazienti, a vari livelli di disturbo mentale, per prepararli a reinserirsi nella società. L’ospedale è all’avanguardia per questo e per gli esperimenti con l’LSD, che veniva assunto dai terapeuti insieme ai pazienti (e quindi, esattamente chi è che guidava chi?).
Leonard Flint si sente sin dal principio fuori posto. Più che una questione di spazio, si tratta di ruolo: ha un trauma ancora talmente tanto irrisolto, deve ancora guarire così tante ferite personali, che giacciono più o meno sepolte nel suo inconscio, che ha difficoltà a essere un medico in camice bianco, un terapeuta. Come può aiutare i suoi pazienti se è lui il primo ad avere bisogno di aiuto? Come può farli guarire se lui stesso per primo è profondamente ferito?
Saskatchewan
Preferisco non raccontare altro: è una storia particolare che merita d’essere scoperta pagina dopo pagina. Una storia piena di dolore, dei danni che un essere umano può creare nella vita di un suo simile, piena di profonda comprensione della natura umana.
E piena di bellezza.
Bellezza di cui ringraziare Helen Humphreys per come struttura e dipana la sua trama, e per come la racconta e scrive. Davvero una scrittrice da tenere stretta al cuore.
Un giorno ti svegli e sta arrivando l’inverno.
August Strindberg che al Weyburn Mental Hospital veniva ricordato per aver tentato di fotografare la sua anima.
C’� sempre un luogo fuori dalla storia, da dove questa stessa storia viene raccontata. Non può essere narrata da dentro. Come potrebbe? Dev’essersi conclusa prima che si possa raccontare. Ci devono essere un inizio, un centro e una fine, e il narratore deve conoscere tutte le parti. Sin dal principio, deve poter vedere la fine, come se stesse in cima a una collina decisamente alta e spingesse lo sguardo lontano. Ma capita che in una storia ci siano momenti che possono funzionare da finale, che lo sembrino. Se la storia si fosse interrotta qui, sarebbe andato tutto bene. Avrebbe avuto un lieto fine.
Helen Humphreys a spasso con il cane.
March 24, 2023
Nobody will ever be able to convince me that the saccharine, tidy ending of RABBIT FOOT BILL was the original one intended for the novel.
Even if the author herself shows up here and writes in the comments that, yes, this was the intended ending, I will not believe her.
The ending of this taut, suspenseful, brilliant novel was a limp piece of lettuce that was offered to me in place of the robust salad that I munched on like a rabbit for 191 pages.
And I can tell you why. . . why publishers and editors “tone down� our work, make our “unlikeable characters� likeable, make our untidy endings tidy. . . because readers don't want to be uncomfortable.
Not most of them, anyway. We want our happy endings, we want characters we can cheer for, we want good things to happen to good people.
Ain't none of those good times happening here, which is exactly why the author should have been able to finish her story in the way she really intended. She should have been permitted the proper trajectory for this troubled, confusing, but brilliant story. But, publishers want books to sell, don't they?
This novel, before its silly ending, reminded me of my early days in a play group in my 20s. I had a precious little son, I was new to town, and I was delighted by our new home and our new friends.
Then came the fateful day when one of the mothers, in hushed tones, brought up a most uncomfortable topic of a child, in the recent news, who had been raped and murdered. From where I sat among the yoga mats, my blood started to boil and the savage Aries in me that I try to keep on the back burner most of the time, was threatening to emerge.
I was new to the group, but I was too provoked, and while most of the mothers looked away, in discomfort, or tried to engage their little darlings with harmonicas and whatnot, I made the mistake of speaking my truth. I said to my new group of friends (and I paraphrase), “All I can tell you is that if I ever have the sorry luck to stumble upon someone raping a child, I'd kill him dead, and I wouldn't need a weapon.�
I brought all of the balance balls to a halt, and the room was suddenly filled with a great discomfort. Someone quickly changed the subject and let's just say I became the Hester Prynne of that playgroup, until I finally stopped attending.
So, when the young Leonard Flint, in 1947, witnesses the murder of a toxic, nasty boy who is absolutely going to grow up to be a rapist and most likely a shameless sociopath, he is strangely satisfied by the justice that is served. So much so, he is not the least bit inclined to report the murder.
He witnesses the murder of a nasty adolescent and is satisfied by the justice of it.
And this clever story makes you wonder: can you see yourself in the complicated Leonard Flint? Can you recognize bits and pieces of yourself in the even more complicated Rabbit Foot Bill?
You might need to read this novel to find out.
But, screw tidy endings.
Can't our endings be satisfying without being tidy??
Even if the author herself shows up here and writes in the comments that, yes, this was the intended ending, I will not believe her.
The ending of this taut, suspenseful, brilliant novel was a limp piece of lettuce that was offered to me in place of the robust salad that I munched on like a rabbit for 191 pages.
And I can tell you why. . . why publishers and editors “tone down� our work, make our “unlikeable characters� likeable, make our untidy endings tidy. . . because readers don't want to be uncomfortable.
Not most of them, anyway. We want our happy endings, we want characters we can cheer for, we want good things to happen to good people.
Ain't none of those good times happening here, which is exactly why the author should have been able to finish her story in the way she really intended. She should have been permitted the proper trajectory for this troubled, confusing, but brilliant story. But, publishers want books to sell, don't they?
This novel, before its silly ending, reminded me of my early days in a play group in my 20s. I had a precious little son, I was new to town, and I was delighted by our new home and our new friends.
Then came the fateful day when one of the mothers, in hushed tones, brought up a most uncomfortable topic of a child, in the recent news, who had been raped and murdered. From where I sat among the yoga mats, my blood started to boil and the savage Aries in me that I try to keep on the back burner most of the time, was threatening to emerge.
I was new to the group, but I was too provoked, and while most of the mothers looked away, in discomfort, or tried to engage their little darlings with harmonicas and whatnot, I made the mistake of speaking my truth. I said to my new group of friends (and I paraphrase), “All I can tell you is that if I ever have the sorry luck to stumble upon someone raping a child, I'd kill him dead, and I wouldn't need a weapon.�
I brought all of the balance balls to a halt, and the room was suddenly filled with a great discomfort. Someone quickly changed the subject and let's just say I became the Hester Prynne of that playgroup, until I finally stopped attending.
So, when the young Leonard Flint, in 1947, witnesses the murder of a toxic, nasty boy who is absolutely going to grow up to be a rapist and most likely a shameless sociopath, he is strangely satisfied by the justice that is served. So much so, he is not the least bit inclined to report the murder.
He witnesses the murder of a nasty adolescent and is satisfied by the justice of it.
And this clever story makes you wonder: can you see yourself in the complicated Leonard Flint? Can you recognize bits and pieces of yourself in the even more complicated Rabbit Foot Bill?
You might need to read this novel to find out.
But, screw tidy endings.
Can't our endings be satisfying without being tidy??
July 16, 2022
This story began quietly, from the perspective of a boy living a rural life. It was somber, the boy lonely. He sought refuge with a man on the fringe of this society already on the fringe.
We spy them together in this beginning, and something is off. But this is NOT a tale already told. And the end of this beginning is not quiet at all.
Years go by, and the main character is starting his career in a frenzied, drug-induced, isolated society. It’s in an institution surrounded by nature. He encounters his past in this odd present, and suddenly we’re inside a pace I wasn’t expecting, (this was a buddy read for me and Charles, and I keep imaging that we journied through this together). I had to adjust.
I won’t go on. I’ll just say that the third part does a great job of both integrating, and paying homage to, the beginning and the middle. Not only is it a good book, it’s also unlike anything I’ve read before. And it successfully merged my two favorite kinds of stories - those earnest and painful, with those dark and quirky.
We spy them together in this beginning, and something is off. But this is NOT a tale already told. And the end of this beginning is not quiet at all.
Years go by, and the main character is starting his career in a frenzied, drug-induced, isolated society. It’s in an institution surrounded by nature. He encounters his past in this odd present, and suddenly we’re inside a pace I wasn’t expecting, (this was a buddy read for me and Charles, and I keep imaging that we journied through this together). I had to adjust.
I won’t go on. I’ll just say that the third part does a great job of both integrating, and paying homage to, the beginning and the middle. Not only is it a good book, it’s also unlike anything I’ve read before. And it successfully merged my two favorite kinds of stories - those earnest and painful, with those dark and quirky.
March 21, 2021
NO SPOILERS....
Paul and I both recommend the audiobook format. It was a terrific buddy-discussion book. If you happen to be a reader who occasionally enjoys listening to a book with your partner ( car rides, hikes, pool soaking, gardening, cooking, etc)... this is a fabulous choice.
This was my first book I’ve read by Helen Humphreys, Canadian novelelist and poet. ( Paul too)
The Audiobook was read by Christopher Grove. (great job)
5 hours and 25 minutes, total.
I could have easily finished this in one day....( especially during my - still - primarily ‘at home� or ‘hiking� covid - isolated lifestyle)....when Paul is working or busy doing his own things...
However, it took longer - 3 days - to finish because my buddy, Paul, didn’t want to miss a word of “Rabbit Foot Bill�....
All ‘our� listening was outside:
...First day....we hiked the forest of Nisene Marks in Santa Cruz
...Second day...we hiked Point Lobos - along the beach in Carmel
...Third day...we hiked Fall Creek in Felton
Paul and I both give this book 5 stars. We stopped the audiobook dozens of times - each day - to discuss the story:
....BIZARRE AS CAN BE ....BASED ON A TRUE STORY....
The characters:
....F#+ked UP!!! BUT FASCINATING!
Alternative possibilities:
....What if’s?..... to..... Paul and I both think this story could be developed into an interesting series.
CREEPY WORDS THAT WERE REPEATED ....more than once:
....”Burn their heads, burn their bodies, burn their bones�
Random thoughts from both Paul and all....[NO NEED TO REPEAT THE DESCRIPTION]....
.....there was a lot of suffering from PTSD going on.
..... psychiatric analysis left much to be desired in 1947.
..... Not sure I’ll ever think of a rabbit foot the same again.
.....Paul wished the author went deeper into the study of the LSD experiments. I just thought is was CRAZY to even consider doctors and patients taking LSD at the same time together.
.....Paul thought the adultery part of the story sounded like the most normal aspect of this ‘entire� story
....I noticed the abundance-of-food references more than Paul... but once I pointed it out to him he said, “no kidding, for a short novel, there was sure a lot of food mentioned�...
.... spaghetti, bread, meatloaf, potatoes, string beans, Lemon meringue pie, peach pie, coconut pie, pot roast, sandwiches, sausage rolls, party foods with olives and toothpicks in them, etc.
.....If this book ‘could� have been longer - rather if they would take this book and ‘develop� it into a longer series....I would like to know more about the key doctors and patients. I mean, it’s not everyday a pyromaniac is on the loose from a mental hospital....
Or....
we get an inside look at how doctors party, (drunken catastrophes?).....REALLY?
I actually began to wonder about doctors PARTYING TIME OFF for real.
A hospital (Kaiser), that I go to, over 100 medical doctors came down with Covid last December. Didn’t make me feel very interested in getting anywhere near our hospital.
Rumors were spreading that our doctors and nurses got together for Christmas parties during their time off....DURING THE PANDEMIC.... drinking eating chatting, laughing, touching, and hugging....with ‘no� masks.
.....The word *OBSESSION*.... was taken to new heights in “Rabbit Foot Bill�.
.....We don’t need a catastrophe event for a book to be good....but it helps.
The catastrophe event/s that took place and this short novel, inspired by truth, WAS MIND BLOWING!
Paul and I both recommend the audiobook format. It was a terrific buddy-discussion book. If you happen to be a reader who occasionally enjoys listening to a book with your partner ( car rides, hikes, pool soaking, gardening, cooking, etc)... this is a fabulous choice.
This was my first book I’ve read by Helen Humphreys, Canadian novelelist and poet. ( Paul too)
The Audiobook was read by Christopher Grove. (great job)
5 hours and 25 minutes, total.
I could have easily finished this in one day....( especially during my - still - primarily ‘at home� or ‘hiking� covid - isolated lifestyle)....when Paul is working or busy doing his own things...
However, it took longer - 3 days - to finish because my buddy, Paul, didn’t want to miss a word of “Rabbit Foot Bill�....
All ‘our� listening was outside:
...First day....we hiked the forest of Nisene Marks in Santa Cruz
...Second day...we hiked Point Lobos - along the beach in Carmel
...Third day...we hiked Fall Creek in Felton
Paul and I both give this book 5 stars. We stopped the audiobook dozens of times - each day - to discuss the story:
....BIZARRE AS CAN BE ....BASED ON A TRUE STORY....
The characters:
....F#+ked UP!!! BUT FASCINATING!
Alternative possibilities:
....What if’s?..... to..... Paul and I both think this story could be developed into an interesting series.
CREEPY WORDS THAT WERE REPEATED ....more than once:
....”Burn their heads, burn their bodies, burn their bones�
Random thoughts from both Paul and all....[NO NEED TO REPEAT THE DESCRIPTION]....
.....there was a lot of suffering from PTSD going on.
..... psychiatric analysis left much to be desired in 1947.
..... Not sure I’ll ever think of a rabbit foot the same again.
.....Paul wished the author went deeper into the study of the LSD experiments. I just thought is was CRAZY to even consider doctors and patients taking LSD at the same time together.
.....Paul thought the adultery part of the story sounded like the most normal aspect of this ‘entire� story
....I noticed the abundance-of-food references more than Paul... but once I pointed it out to him he said, “no kidding, for a short novel, there was sure a lot of food mentioned�...
.... spaghetti, bread, meatloaf, potatoes, string beans, Lemon meringue pie, peach pie, coconut pie, pot roast, sandwiches, sausage rolls, party foods with olives and toothpicks in them, etc.
.....If this book ‘could� have been longer - rather if they would take this book and ‘develop� it into a longer series....I would like to know more about the key doctors and patients. I mean, it’s not everyday a pyromaniac is on the loose from a mental hospital....
Or....
we get an inside look at how doctors party, (drunken catastrophes?).....REALLY?
I actually began to wonder about doctors PARTYING TIME OFF for real.
A hospital (Kaiser), that I go to, over 100 medical doctors came down with Covid last December. Didn’t make me feel very interested in getting anywhere near our hospital.
Rumors were spreading that our doctors and nurses got together for Christmas parties during their time off....DURING THE PANDEMIC.... drinking eating chatting, laughing, touching, and hugging....with ‘no� masks.
.....The word *OBSESSION*.... was taken to new heights in “Rabbit Foot Bill�.
.....We don’t need a catastrophe event for a book to be good....but it helps.
The catastrophe event/s that took place and this short novel, inspired by truth, WAS MIND BLOWING!
August 19, 2020
This was a masterfully written book that told an emotional and shocking story. Although the plot seemed unbelievable, it had a factual basis. Rabbit Foot Bill was a real-life tramp who committed murder in a small prairie town in Saskatchewan in 1947.
Bill was befriended by twelve-year-old Leonard Flint, The boy was lonely, unhappy at home and bullied at school. Leonard followed Bill everywhere and developed an obsessive love for the vagrant. Bill lived in a rough shelter hollowed out on a hillside. He did minor odd jobs around town but mainly wandered around the fields hunting rabbits with Leonard joining in. The boy enjoyed the peace and freedom of the countryside and Bill's quiet companionship. Bill got his nickname from cutting the hind feet from trapped rabbits and selling them as lucky charms. I remember the time that they were popular on keychains and attached to billfolds. When Rabbit Foot Bill committed the murder it was horrific and completely unexpected, and Leonard witnessed everything. Bill was sentenced to prison and Leonard sadly missed the time they spent together.
By 1959, Leonard is a newly licensed psychiatrist. He begins his employment at Weyburn Mental Hospital, known for its unorthodox, experimental trials with LSD. Dr. Leonard Kent was surprised and delighted to learn that Bill had been transferred from prison to Weyburn and was a patient there. He worked on the hospital grounds with horses, and had permission to sleep in the stable as he did not adjust well to being around others. Doctor Flint is assigned to a group of patients, but not to the care of Bill. He is still fixated on Bill, secretly visiting him in the stables each day while neglecting the caseload of patients assigned to him. Avoiding his work lead to an act of violence and Doctor Flint was fired.
Ten years later he returns to his family home to visit his mother and to attend his father's funeral. He learns some forgotten things about his early life. He still mourns for Bill and revisits the places they wandered together.
This moving and compelling book was beautifully written. It touches on uncomfortable themes of family violence, repressed memories, PTSD, mental illness, irrational obsessions, but also resilience.
Bill was befriended by twelve-year-old Leonard Flint, The boy was lonely, unhappy at home and bullied at school. Leonard followed Bill everywhere and developed an obsessive love for the vagrant. Bill lived in a rough shelter hollowed out on a hillside. He did minor odd jobs around town but mainly wandered around the fields hunting rabbits with Leonard joining in. The boy enjoyed the peace and freedom of the countryside and Bill's quiet companionship. Bill got his nickname from cutting the hind feet from trapped rabbits and selling them as lucky charms. I remember the time that they were popular on keychains and attached to billfolds. When Rabbit Foot Bill committed the murder it was horrific and completely unexpected, and Leonard witnessed everything. Bill was sentenced to prison and Leonard sadly missed the time they spent together.
By 1959, Leonard is a newly licensed psychiatrist. He begins his employment at Weyburn Mental Hospital, known for its unorthodox, experimental trials with LSD. Dr. Leonard Kent was surprised and delighted to learn that Bill had been transferred from prison to Weyburn and was a patient there. He worked on the hospital grounds with horses, and had permission to sleep in the stable as he did not adjust well to being around others. Doctor Flint is assigned to a group of patients, but not to the care of Bill. He is still fixated on Bill, secretly visiting him in the stables each day while neglecting the caseload of patients assigned to him. Avoiding his work lead to an act of violence and Doctor Flint was fired.
Ten years later he returns to his family home to visit his mother and to attend his father's funeral. He learns some forgotten things about his early life. He still mourns for Bill and revisits the places they wandered together.
This moving and compelling book was beautifully written. It touches on uncomfortable themes of family violence, repressed memories, PTSD, mental illness, irrational obsessions, but also resilience.
March 27, 2022
Helen Humphreys lobs images at the reader with the confidence of a sharpshooter - and keeps them coming.
In her surprising novel Rabbit Foot Bill, she weaves a fine prose, as evocative as it is nimble. Page one wasted no time in stealing my heart, in fact lunging for it. Through the eyes of a child, it competently conjured a beguiling atmosphere for the strange tale that was to unfold. As times and places would flutter, the charm held fast.
I read Who Has Seen the Wind by W.O. Mitchell less than a year ago. I remember fondly its first chapter and would draw parallels: Mitchell had presented Saskatchewan to readers with an abundance of poetry and sunlight, as seen through the eyes of a small boy going around town asking questions, circa the Great Depression.
It’s impossible not to be reminded of that opening sequence as you’re introduced to young Lenny and he takes you around his own prairie town, himself a boy exploring the Saskatchewan landscape, pre-1950s. This is not at all an unfortunate comparison: Humphreys proves just as adept at showcasing Lenny’s small-scale wanderlust in an engaging way. Rabbit Foot Bill inspires as much awe, using language just as beautiful � although with more brevity � and hits the trail in the very same prairie.
Other than sharing that much in common, the two books see their methods and motivations differ wildly. I spent most of Rabbit Foot Bill wondering what was going on � and feeling delighted by it, rather than annoyed. This was a buddy read with my friend Jennifer, and both of us got involved in trying to predict where the author would be taking us next. Lenny grows up to become a bewildering man, and that’s putting it lightly.
Helen Humphreys gave her storyline the sharp turns of a rabbit run. She proved a master at moods and made this novel a success on so many levels. This was powerful writing. I'd recommend this excellent Canadian title in a heartbeat.
In her surprising novel Rabbit Foot Bill, she weaves a fine prose, as evocative as it is nimble. Page one wasted no time in stealing my heart, in fact lunging for it. Through the eyes of a child, it competently conjured a beguiling atmosphere for the strange tale that was to unfold. As times and places would flutter, the charm held fast.
I read Who Has Seen the Wind by W.O. Mitchell less than a year ago. I remember fondly its first chapter and would draw parallels: Mitchell had presented Saskatchewan to readers with an abundance of poetry and sunlight, as seen through the eyes of a small boy going around town asking questions, circa the Great Depression.
It’s impossible not to be reminded of that opening sequence as you’re introduced to young Lenny and he takes you around his own prairie town, himself a boy exploring the Saskatchewan landscape, pre-1950s. This is not at all an unfortunate comparison: Humphreys proves just as adept at showcasing Lenny’s small-scale wanderlust in an engaging way. Rabbit Foot Bill inspires as much awe, using language just as beautiful � although with more brevity � and hits the trail in the very same prairie.
Other than sharing that much in common, the two books see their methods and motivations differ wildly. I spent most of Rabbit Foot Bill wondering what was going on � and feeling delighted by it, rather than annoyed. This was a buddy read with my friend Jennifer, and both of us got involved in trying to predict where the author would be taking us next. Lenny grows up to become a bewildering man, and that’s putting it lightly.
Helen Humphreys gave her storyline the sharp turns of a rabbit run. She proved a master at moods and made this novel a success on so many levels. This was powerful writing. I'd recommend this excellent Canadian title in a heartbeat.
May 1, 2021
Based on true events, Rabbit Foot Bill is the story of a man haunted by the past. When he was a boy, in 1947 small town Saskatchewan, Leonard Flint befriends a man, an outcast, known as Rabbit Foot Bill, (who has dug a hole in the side of a hill for lodgings -Sugar Hill the locals call it) who gets by on odd jobs and selling rabbits feet to the locals for good luck charms. Leonard, lonely, bullied at school is obsessed with his friendship with Bill, to the consternation of others, including his mother and hard nosed father. After committing a violent act, Bill is imprisoned.
Fast forward 15 years to the Weyburn Mental Hospital where Leonard is a newly arrived young psychiatrist, his first employment. The Weyburn was the country's foremost treatment hospital, a massive institution,for everything from mental retardation to alcoholism. When Leonard arrives, they are in the throes of LSD trials, doctors and patients alike. Leonard is sensibly skeptical.
And yes, Leonard finds his old friend Rabbit Foot Bill is a resident there. And his obsessive friendship is renewed.
At the heart of the novel is this obsession. Bill himself is puzzled by it and we, the reader, have our suspicions. A nervous tension compels us forward eagerly, cautiously.
Humphreys is a fine writer. Her prose is lyrical, efficient with a nice sepia-edged quality to it, like looking through an old photo album. We are reminded of the fragility of the human psyche, the elusiveness of memories and the power we have to heal others. A gem, this one.
Fast forward 15 years to the Weyburn Mental Hospital where Leonard is a newly arrived young psychiatrist, his first employment. The Weyburn was the country's foremost treatment hospital, a massive institution,for everything from mental retardation to alcoholism. When Leonard arrives, they are in the throes of LSD trials, doctors and patients alike. Leonard is sensibly skeptical.
And yes, Leonard finds his old friend Rabbit Foot Bill is a resident there. And his obsessive friendship is renewed.
At the heart of the novel is this obsession. Bill himself is puzzled by it and we, the reader, have our suspicions. A nervous tension compels us forward eagerly, cautiously.
Humphreys is a fine writer. Her prose is lyrical, efficient with a nice sepia-edged quality to it, like looking through an old photo album. We are reminded of the fragility of the human psyche, the elusiveness of memories and the power we have to heal others. A gem, this one.
September 13, 2023
4.5 Stars.
A short, powerful book that explores themes of friendship, abuse, mental health and love.
We meet Leonard, a lonely 12 year old boy, who is bullied at school. He befriends Bill, a local outcast. In one of his days with Bill, he is a witness to a murder. Bill is taken away to prison. Twelve years later when Leonard is a psychiatrist, their paths converge again at the mental hospital that Leonard is working at.
Helen Humphreys writes sparingly- there is not one extraneous word. She dives into Leonard’s psyche. Why is Leonard so obsessed with Bill? What is Leonard so scared of and what is he hiding?
At the hospital, experiments are being done on the patients and also on the staff using LSD. This added an extra component to what was going on.
This book had me riveted to the pages. There was an underlying sense of dread throughout. The book had perfect pacing as the story moved back and forth in time seamlessly. This is definitely a book I won’t forget in a hurry.
Highly recommend this one!
Many thanks to Lisa, who buddy read this with me. Totally appreciated all your insights. This added much to my reading experience.
Published: 2020
A short, powerful book that explores themes of friendship, abuse, mental health and love.
We meet Leonard, a lonely 12 year old boy, who is bullied at school. He befriends Bill, a local outcast. In one of his days with Bill, he is a witness to a murder. Bill is taken away to prison. Twelve years later when Leonard is a psychiatrist, their paths converge again at the mental hospital that Leonard is working at.
Helen Humphreys writes sparingly- there is not one extraneous word. She dives into Leonard’s psyche. Why is Leonard so obsessed with Bill? What is Leonard so scared of and what is he hiding?
At the hospital, experiments are being done on the patients and also on the staff using LSD. This added an extra component to what was going on.
This book had me riveted to the pages. There was an underlying sense of dread throughout. The book had perfect pacing as the story moved back and forth in time seamlessly. This is definitely a book I won’t forget in a hurry.
Highly recommend this one!
Many thanks to Lisa, who buddy read this with me. Totally appreciated all your insights. This added much to my reading experience.
Published: 2020
February 18, 2021
4.5*
If it weren't for my GRs friend J. K. Grice, I wouldn't have discovered this amazing book. Rabbit Foot Bill is based on an incident that took place in Saskatchewan in 1947.
Leonard is a lonely young boy who recently moved to a new town. Lost and bullied, he befriends a tramp named Rabbit Foot Bill. Bill does odd works and also sells rabbit foot, which seems to bring good luck (not for the rabbit ofcourse!). In a cave like dwelling on Sugar Hill, Bill lives with his unnamed dogs, shut out from normal life.
When Leonard witness a murder committed by Bill, he loses the one friend he had in life. 15 years later, Leonard is a psychiatrist and he works at Weyburn Hospital which is infamous for its LSD experiments (I was shocked this happened!). There he is reunited with Bill!
This book is written from the point of Leonard and we can understand from the beginning that something is off about his character, in a sad way. Also his obsession towards Bill is a mystery until we reach the end of the book. This is a unique book and I enjoyed it a lot. Looking forward to reading other books by Helen Humphreys.
If it weren't for my GRs friend J. K. Grice, I wouldn't have discovered this amazing book. Rabbit Foot Bill is based on an incident that took place in Saskatchewan in 1947.
Leonard is a lonely young boy who recently moved to a new town. Lost and bullied, he befriends a tramp named Rabbit Foot Bill. Bill does odd works and also sells rabbit foot, which seems to bring good luck (not for the rabbit ofcourse!). In a cave like dwelling on Sugar Hill, Bill lives with his unnamed dogs, shut out from normal life.
When Leonard witness a murder committed by Bill, he loses the one friend he had in life. 15 years later, Leonard is a psychiatrist and he works at Weyburn Hospital which is infamous for its LSD experiments (I was shocked this happened!). There he is reunited with Bill!
This book is written from the point of Leonard and we can understand from the beginning that something is off about his character, in a sad way. Also his obsession towards Bill is a mystery until we reach the end of the book. This is a unique book and I enjoyed it a lot. Looking forward to reading other books by Helen Humphreys.
August 22, 2020
This turned out to be a good read.
A work of fiction based on true events.
The story started very well.
The first 11% got me engaged, from there it became a bit boring and emotionless, especially when talking about the LSD treatment experience. After 30% there was finally a wake up (or perhaps I was the one who woke up) and an explosion of emotions, just how I like.
I was intrigued by that obsession.
How our mind works is fascinating and complex.
The ending was touching.
The writing is really good and the author did a nice job developing the story, but because there isn’t a lot of description it failed to evoke the place and time.
A work of fiction based on true events.
The story started very well.
The first 11% got me engaged, from there it became a bit boring and emotionless, especially when talking about the LSD treatment experience. After 30% there was finally a wake up (or perhaps I was the one who woke up) and an explosion of emotions, just how I like.
I was intrigued by that obsession.
How our mind works is fascinating and complex.
The ending was touching.
The writing is really good and the author did a nice job developing the story, but because there isn’t a lot of description it failed to evoke the place and time.
November 20, 2023
Just last week I was complaining that a book was TOO dark, and now my biggest (and really only) gripe is that this isn't quite dark enough. Go ahead and call me the Goldilocks of GoodReads, I guess.
Lenny is a small and sensitive 12-year-old boy growing up in a small town in the Saskatchewan province of Canada in the 1940's who finds entertainment and escape from his strict home life and the bigger bullies at school through his unorthodox friendship with "Rabbit Foot Bill," an eccentric tramp and loner who lives in the side of a hill on the outskirts of town and sells rabbits' feet to the local townspeople.
We only ever see this friendship through Lenny's adoring eyes as he idolizes the older man in a way that never quite seems entirely “normal� or truthful. And that's BEFORE the shocking act of violence that sets the story fully in motion.
Things only get weirder from there, gradually revealing new info and reading more like a propulsive short story than a traditional novel. The prose is stark and brisk, conveying with an astonishing brevity and precision so many emotional complexities and poignant observations about human memory and the enormous shadows our childhood experiences can cast across our adult lives and relationships.
Author Helen Humphreys plays around with the uncertainty and unreliability of her first-person narrator to craft a spellbinding psychological thriller with a pervasive sense of mystery and menace and dread. I never quite knew exactly where the story was heading, and felt constantly out of breath and off-balance in the best possible way.
Until all is eventually revealed in an over-extended denouement that felt a tad too tidy and anticlimactic. I couldn’t even tell you exactly what I wanted to see happen instead, just that I craved something a little more ambiguous and unsettling. I wanted to be left gutted and gasping in dazed disbelief, then lying wide awake in bed for hours, not sighing to myself, "Ahhh, but of course!" as I closed my book and then rolled over to fall comfortably asleep.
All that being said, I finished this on Friday and I'm still thinking about it Monday morning. There are characters and images from this I'll never forget, and I can't say that with confidence all that often. So please don't let the mild disappointment of one masochistic reader discourage you from discovering this delightfully odd and engrossing short novel for yourself.
Lenny is a small and sensitive 12-year-old boy growing up in a small town in the Saskatchewan province of Canada in the 1940's who finds entertainment and escape from his strict home life and the bigger bullies at school through his unorthodox friendship with "Rabbit Foot Bill," an eccentric tramp and loner who lives in the side of a hill on the outskirts of town and sells rabbits' feet to the local townspeople.
We only ever see this friendship through Lenny's adoring eyes as he idolizes the older man in a way that never quite seems entirely “normal� or truthful. And that's BEFORE the shocking act of violence that sets the story fully in motion.
Things only get weirder from there, gradually revealing new info and reading more like a propulsive short story than a traditional novel. The prose is stark and brisk, conveying with an astonishing brevity and precision so many emotional complexities and poignant observations about human memory and the enormous shadows our childhood experiences can cast across our adult lives and relationships.
Author Helen Humphreys plays around with the uncertainty and unreliability of her first-person narrator to craft a spellbinding psychological thriller with a pervasive sense of mystery and menace and dread. I never quite knew exactly where the story was heading, and felt constantly out of breath and off-balance in the best possible way.
Until all is eventually revealed in an over-extended denouement that felt a tad too tidy and anticlimactic. I couldn’t even tell you exactly what I wanted to see happen instead, just that I craved something a little more ambiguous and unsettling. I wanted to be left gutted and gasping in dazed disbelief, then lying wide awake in bed for hours, not sighing to myself, "Ahhh, but of course!" as I closed my book and then rolled over to fall comfortably asleep.
All that being said, I finished this on Friday and I'm still thinking about it Monday morning. There are characters and images from this I'll never forget, and I can't say that with confidence all that often. So please don't let the mild disappointment of one masochistic reader discourage you from discovering this delightfully odd and engrossing short novel for yourself.
August 30, 2021
"Off in the distance there is a column of gray, rain coming down on some other patch of earth, some other community. I can't tell if the storm is moving towards us or moving away. It is one of the miracles of the prairie landscape that you can watch rain approaching hours before it arrives."
Leonard Flint is a lonely twelve-year-old boy in Canwood, a small farming town in Saskatchewan, Canada. Leonard befriends Rabbit Foot Bill, a local outsider, a man adults consider a tramp. Leonard follows Bill around and spends all his free time with him. That is ...until 1947 when something dreadful happens!
Some quotes that stood out for me:-
"I am a boy. I am a dog. I am the rabbits with their hind feet gone. I am the climb and the drop, the flatland below the hill, the flat sky above. I am this place and a long walk towards it. I am everything he ever saw, everything he ever touched. I am all � I am only - him."
"Childhood seems remote, like a landscape scene from the window of a speeding car, blurry and inaccessible."
"I miss Bill, and I miss the scrap of the past where we knew each other and belonged together. And I miss the future we never got to have. I miss the real possibility of a happy ending. I miss the invention of a machine that will turn wrong action back into thought, anger back to love."
Helen Humphreys says in an interview, "Rabbit Foot Bill is based on a true story but is a work of fiction, not a work of nonfiction." This intriguing novel about trauma, resilience and life at Weyburn Mental Hospital was a Buddy Read with three friends.
3.75 stars rounded up
Leonard Flint is a lonely twelve-year-old boy in Canwood, a small farming town in Saskatchewan, Canada. Leonard befriends Rabbit Foot Bill, a local outsider, a man adults consider a tramp. Leonard follows Bill around and spends all his free time with him. That is ...until 1947 when something dreadful happens!
Some quotes that stood out for me:-
"I am a boy. I am a dog. I am the rabbits with their hind feet gone. I am the climb and the drop, the flatland below the hill, the flat sky above. I am this place and a long walk towards it. I am everything he ever saw, everything he ever touched. I am all � I am only - him."
"Childhood seems remote, like a landscape scene from the window of a speeding car, blurry and inaccessible."
"I miss Bill, and I miss the scrap of the past where we knew each other and belonged together. And I miss the future we never got to have. I miss the real possibility of a happy ending. I miss the invention of a machine that will turn wrong action back into thought, anger back to love."
Helen Humphreys says in an interview, "Rabbit Foot Bill is based on a true story but is a work of fiction, not a work of nonfiction." This intriguing novel about trauma, resilience and life at Weyburn Mental Hospital was a Buddy Read with three friends.
3.75 stars rounded up
August 26, 2021
3.75 rounded up.
I was intrigued by this story, informed by real events. I was intrigued by the narrator and Bill, the object of Leonard's obsession. I was held captive by all the psychological undercurrents flowing through the narrative. At times I was uncomfortable or appalled at what I read, but knew it was based on actual history, which added an element of stick-to-it-ness. It tweaked that part of me that wants to understand, that wants to have answers.
This was written in a very spare manner, which left me wishing for more depth and breadth, more flesh on the bones. As the story ended I found myself with multiple questions, as though I'd been handed a news story with basic facts without sufficient analysis of "why".
An interesting read and interesting real life event. It was a good choice for a group read with my peeps.
I was intrigued by this story, informed by real events. I was intrigued by the narrator and Bill, the object of Leonard's obsession. I was held captive by all the psychological undercurrents flowing through the narrative. At times I was uncomfortable or appalled at what I read, but knew it was based on actual history, which added an element of stick-to-it-ness. It tweaked that part of me that wants to understand, that wants to have answers.
This was written in a very spare manner, which left me wishing for more depth and breadth, more flesh on the bones. As the story ended I found myself with multiple questions, as though I'd been handed a news story with basic facts without sufficient analysis of "why".
An interesting read and interesting real life event. It was a good choice for a group read with my peeps.
February 25, 2021
Don't let my 3 star fool you - this is a good book. Just too short.
Most of my personal grievances with it have to do with its length. I wish this was longer! Like a few-hundy pages longer! This book has incredible bones and I just craved more meat. The characters are great, but they'd be more memorable if they'd been fleshed out a bit more. I wanted more backstory, more character development, more more more (call me greedy)!
I sort of envision someone like Margaret Atwood writing this, but it would be about 600 pages instead of 200, and then I think there'd have been much more room to create a world. I'm originally from the prairies, and I'd have liked more atmosphere, more of that landscaping and worldbuilding to disappear into. You can gain a lot if you use the setting to your advantage, and it was a bit lacking for me on this occasion.
That said, this is a fascinating little novel, and it's a story I'd never heard about but now want to hear more about (so if anything, the book did its job: it kept me engaged and taught me something along the way). I must also give props to the book design - the jacket caught my attention, or else I may have never picked it up in the first place (I'm a hoe for book jackets lol).
Overall, good! But the editors could have encouraged a couple hundred more pages out of this, and I'd never have complained! ;)
Onward.
Most of my personal grievances with it have to do with its length. I wish this was longer! Like a few-hundy pages longer! This book has incredible bones and I just craved more meat. The characters are great, but they'd be more memorable if they'd been fleshed out a bit more. I wanted more backstory, more character development, more more more (call me greedy)!
I sort of envision someone like Margaret Atwood writing this, but it would be about 600 pages instead of 200, and then I think there'd have been much more room to create a world. I'm originally from the prairies, and I'd have liked more atmosphere, more of that landscaping and worldbuilding to disappear into. You can gain a lot if you use the setting to your advantage, and it was a bit lacking for me on this occasion.
That said, this is a fascinating little novel, and it's a story I'd never heard about but now want to hear more about (so if anything, the book did its job: it kept me engaged and taught me something along the way). I must also give props to the book design - the jacket caught my attention, or else I may have never picked it up in the first place (I'm a hoe for book jackets lol).
Overall, good! But the editors could have encouraged a couple hundred more pages out of this, and I'd never have complained! ;)
Onward.
June 28, 2022
True Crime Fiction
Review of the HarperCollins Publishers hardcover (August 18, 2020)
Helen Humphreys' Rabbit Foot Bill is an historical fiction based on the main facts of a true crime that occurred in Canwood, Saskatchewan, Canada in 1947. A local drifter nicknamed Rabbit Foot Bill (who made a living by selling "lucky" rabbit's feet*) killed another man by stabbing him with a pair of gardening shears. The elements of the true case can be read at this Canadian CBC News .
The crime was witnessed by a young boy named Hugh LeFave and the murderer William Young went to prison where he later died. Hugh LeFave grew up to work at the notorious in Weyburn, Saskatchewan (1921 - closed in 2004/demolished in 2009). Weyburn is notorious due to the amount of experimentation** done there on patients, especially alcoholics, using LSD as a treatment. Weyburn psychiatrist Humphrey Osmond was the first to use the term to describe LSD and similar drugs.
Photograph of the now closed & demolished Weyburn Mental Hospital in Weyburn, Saskatchewan, Canada. Image sourced from .
Humphreys heard the history of the case directly from Hugh LeFave and used it as the basis of her fiction where a young boy named Leonard Flint is friends with the drifter Rabbit Foot Bill in 1947. Bill kills a town bully who has tormented Leonard, and is sent to prison as a result. In 1959, Leonard has grown up to become a doctor whose first job is to go to work at Weyburn where he again meets Rabbit Foot Bill, who has been transferred there.
The fictional story takes a completely different path from the real life case and is masterfully written. The fictional Leonard Flint has an obsessive interest in Rabbit Foot Bill and ignores his assigned regular duties as a result. We learn gradually that part of the reason was that his friendship with Bill represented a refuge from abuse in the family home and the bullying at school. The reunion at Weyburn takes a tragic turn though, and both Leonard's and Bill's lives change again. In the denouement, taking place 11 years later in 1970, Leonard returns home to Canwood, Saskatchewan to reconcile with his past.
I've become a regular fan of Helen Humphreys since reading her mixed non-fiction/fiction novel (2018) and her memoir (2022). I'm planning to discover more of her writing, likely in reverse order, with another memoir (2013) as my next read of Humphreys.
Trivia and Links
* If you want to go down the rabbit hole of What Makes a Rabbit's Foot Lucky? you can read at Scientific American from October 26, 2011.
** Thankfully, Humphreys doesn't describe or discuss any of the lobotomies performed at Weyburn. I don't think I could stand reading anything further on that subject after Doctor Ice Pick (2022).
Review of the HarperCollins Publishers hardcover (August 18, 2020)
Helen Humphreys' Rabbit Foot Bill is an historical fiction based on the main facts of a true crime that occurred in Canwood, Saskatchewan, Canada in 1947. A local drifter nicknamed Rabbit Foot Bill (who made a living by selling "lucky" rabbit's feet*) killed another man by stabbing him with a pair of gardening shears. The elements of the true case can be read at this Canadian CBC News .
The crime was witnessed by a young boy named Hugh LeFave and the murderer William Young went to prison where he later died. Hugh LeFave grew up to work at the notorious in Weyburn, Saskatchewan (1921 - closed in 2004/demolished in 2009). Weyburn is notorious due to the amount of experimentation** done there on patients, especially alcoholics, using LSD as a treatment. Weyburn psychiatrist Humphrey Osmond was the first to use the term to describe LSD and similar drugs.
Photograph of the now closed & demolished Weyburn Mental Hospital in Weyburn, Saskatchewan, Canada. Image sourced from .
Humphreys heard the history of the case directly from Hugh LeFave and used it as the basis of her fiction where a young boy named Leonard Flint is friends with the drifter Rabbit Foot Bill in 1947. Bill kills a town bully who has tormented Leonard, and is sent to prison as a result. In 1959, Leonard has grown up to become a doctor whose first job is to go to work at Weyburn where he again meets Rabbit Foot Bill, who has been transferred there.
The fictional story takes a completely different path from the real life case and is masterfully written. The fictional Leonard Flint has an obsessive interest in Rabbit Foot Bill and ignores his assigned regular duties as a result. We learn gradually that part of the reason was that his friendship with Bill represented a refuge from abuse in the family home and the bullying at school. The reunion at Weyburn takes a tragic turn though, and both Leonard's and Bill's lives change again. In the denouement, taking place 11 years later in 1970, Leonard returns home to Canwood, Saskatchewan to reconcile with his past.
I've become a regular fan of Helen Humphreys since reading her mixed non-fiction/fiction novel (2018) and her memoir (2022). I'm planning to discover more of her writing, likely in reverse order, with another memoir (2013) as my next read of Humphreys.
Trivia and Links
* If you want to go down the rabbit hole of What Makes a Rabbit's Foot Lucky? you can read at Scientific American from October 26, 2011.
** Thankfully, Humphreys doesn't describe or discuss any of the lobotomies performed at Weyburn. I don't think I could stand reading anything further on that subject after Doctor Ice Pick (2022).
April 19, 2022
This captivating novel is based on the true story of a Saskatchewan man known as Rabbit Foot Bill, convicted of murder in 1947, sent to a prison for the criminally insane, and later to the Weyburn Mental Hospital where patients—and psychiatrists—took part in experimental LSD trials.
Lonely young Leonard finds a friend and safe haven in Rabbit Foot Bill—an odd loner who lives in a hovel on the outskirts of town. The two are together when the murder occurs.
Years later—as a Doctor—Leonard accepts his first job at the Weyburn institution where he's excited to discover Bill had been transferred. The two reconnect with tragic results.
The story is remarkable. It's engaging. It's shocking. It may even leave you speechless. Reading it will be well-worth your time. I've given it 4 stars and highly recommend it.
Lonely young Leonard finds a friend and safe haven in Rabbit Foot Bill—an odd loner who lives in a hovel on the outskirts of town. The two are together when the murder occurs.
Years later—as a Doctor—Leonard accepts his first job at the Weyburn institution where he's excited to discover Bill had been transferred. The two reconnect with tragic results.
The story is remarkable. It's engaging. It's shocking. It may even leave you speechless. Reading it will be well-worth your time. I've given it 4 stars and highly recommend it.
January 29, 2021
“Mi manca Bill� …Helen!
Devo ammettere che ho stentato a ritrovare nella pagine di quest’ultimo romanzo di Helen Humphreys lo stile, le atmosfere, l’espressione lirica da poetessa (quale l’autrice canadese è, oltre che prosatrice), la passione per il mondo animale e vegetale, la scelta di soggetti originali e stravaganti, i pregevoli ritratti femminili che mi hanno affascinato in tutte le sue opere precedenti, almeno quelle che ho letto.
Nulla di tutto ciò nella storia di Bill Zampe di Coniglio e di Leonard Flint, il narratore dapprima bambino e poi adulto, ma quasi un romanzo di formazione, molto strutturato anche nei salti temporali ben contrasssegnati e datati, e agganciato alla descrizione di una vicenda concreta e in buona parte prevedibile, con elementi fortemente drammatici e addirittura (dico “addirittura� in rapporto all’abituale approccio della scrittrice�) brutali.
Non che il risultato sia disprezzabile, la scrittura rimane fluida ed evocativa, i personaggi ben caratterizzati, benché in “B� (altra anomalia rispetto al “canone Humphreysiano�) tutti i principali siano maschili e i pochi ruoli femminili appaiano marginali, pallidi e stereotipati; in altri termini , il romanzo c’� ed è ben strutturato ma, non so come altrimenti esprimermi, non è la mia Humphreys!
Quanto all'argomento LSD, sarà anche storicamente documentato l’uso e abuso che se ne fece negli istituti psichiatrici negli anni �50, ma ai fini dell’equilibrio del romanzo, mi è sembrato poco significativo (tutto quell’apparato ha il solo ruolo narrativo di far affiorare il rimosso di Leonard?) e, più in generale, la parte ambientata all’interno dell’ospedale di Weybourn si è rivelata, a mio parere, la più debole del romanzo.
Devo ammettere che ho stentato a ritrovare nella pagine di quest’ultimo romanzo di Helen Humphreys lo stile, le atmosfere, l’espressione lirica da poetessa (quale l’autrice canadese è, oltre che prosatrice), la passione per il mondo animale e vegetale, la scelta di soggetti originali e stravaganti, i pregevoli ritratti femminili che mi hanno affascinato in tutte le sue opere precedenti, almeno quelle che ho letto.
Nulla di tutto ciò nella storia di Bill Zampe di Coniglio e di Leonard Flint, il narratore dapprima bambino e poi adulto, ma quasi un romanzo di formazione, molto strutturato anche nei salti temporali ben contrasssegnati e datati, e agganciato alla descrizione di una vicenda concreta e in buona parte prevedibile, con elementi fortemente drammatici e addirittura (dico “addirittura� in rapporto all’abituale approccio della scrittrice�) brutali.
Non che il risultato sia disprezzabile, la scrittura rimane fluida ed evocativa, i personaggi ben caratterizzati, benché in “B� (altra anomalia rispetto al “canone Humphreysiano�) tutti i principali siano maschili e i pochi ruoli femminili appaiano marginali, pallidi e stereotipati; in altri termini , il romanzo c’� ed è ben strutturato ma, non so come altrimenti esprimermi, non è la mia Humphreys!
Quanto all'argomento LSD, sarà anche storicamente documentato l’uso e abuso che se ne fece negli istituti psichiatrici negli anni �50, ma ai fini dell’equilibrio del romanzo, mi è sembrato poco significativo (tutto quell’apparato ha il solo ruolo narrativo di far affiorare il rimosso di Leonard?) e, più in generale, la parte ambientata all’interno dell’ospedale di Weybourn si è rivelata, a mio parere, la più debole del romanzo.
March 21, 2021
A short novel, which has continued to resonate after reading. Some reviewers have suggested it should be much longer, but I appreciated the spare evocative prose. We jump between different time periods, clearly labelled, and in each of these time frames, the circumstances are rendered as precisely as possible.
This novel is "based on a true story" and one historical element (the use of LSD as mental health or addiction treatment) is coincidentally currently in the news. (Hallucinagens are being used in clinical studies for PTSD).
The title character is simple enough, making few demands on society; yet Rabbit Foot Bill develops into a complicated metaphor, especially as we learn more about him. The more we learn about Rabbit Foot Bill, the more we learn about ourselves, and what we think we know.
This novel is "based on a true story" and one historical element (the use of LSD as mental health or addiction treatment) is coincidentally currently in the news. (Hallucinagens are being used in clinical studies for PTSD).
The title character is simple enough, making few demands on society; yet Rabbit Foot Bill develops into a complicated metaphor, especially as we learn more about him. The more we learn about Rabbit Foot Bill, the more we learn about ourselves, and what we think we know.
October 17, 2021
A sad sad story. But formulaic.
September 1, 2020
4.5 stars // The author doesn't waste a second. Some things addressed in the first 29 pages would take a different writer 150 pages to develop. Jeez.
It was eye-opening + alarming reading about doctors treating institutionalized patients with LSD (!!!!). It was also fascinating (and frustrating) gaining insight on how mental illness was viewed in 1950s; and who society considered mentally unstable. Personally, I wish the pace were a bit slower, but it's a good read.
It was eye-opening + alarming reading about doctors treating institutionalized patients with LSD (!!!!). It was also fascinating (and frustrating) gaining insight on how mental illness was viewed in 1950s; and who society considered mentally unstable. Personally, I wish the pace were a bit slower, but it's a good read.
June 19, 2022
Knyga, kurios potencialas pasirodė didesnis nei tikrovė. Be galo įdomi idėja, paremta tikra istorija, apie netikėtą dviejų žmonių draugystę, pakeitusią abiejų gyvenimus. Čia ir psichologinės problemos, ir bandymai gydyti psichikos sutrikimų turinčius pacientus su LSD, ir visa puokštė įvairiausių tarpusavio santykių, retai aptinkamų panašiuose romanuose. Bet nors visos šios temos tiek atskirai, tiek tuo labiau kartu žada įspūdingą kūrinį, kažkas jame iki manęs neprisibeldė.
Senokai knygoje esu sutikusi tokį erzinantį pagrindinį veikėją. Kūrinio pradžioje buvau suintriguota, jo kaip vaiko personažas nekliuvo ir tik sužadino smalsumą, bet antroje dalyje jau suaugęs šios knygos herojus priima tiek keistų ir sunkiai paaiškinamų sprendimų, kad ima trūkti pasiteisinimų. Ir manau, kad čia išlenda pagrindinė knygos problema � viskas praplaukta pakankamai paviršiumi, trūksta niuansų, subtilumo, gylio, gal dar bent 100 ar net kiek daugiau puslapių, kuriuose išgryninami veikėjai ir pasikapstoma giliau jų galvose (visgi veiksmas vyksta psichiatrinėje ligoninėje). Mat aprėpti čia bandoma daug, o ir manau, kad pagrindą autorė turėjo tikrai tvirtą, bet tam tikri dalykai per greitai nustumiami į šalį, o kiti, rodos, palikti be jokio konteksto.
Tai vienas tų kūrinių, norinčių provokuoti diskusijas, ir tai pasirodė sveikintina. Galima kvestionuoti tiek veikėjų poelgius, tie gydymo su LSD subtilybes, tiek teismo verdiktus, bet tam norisi glaudesnio ryšio su veikėjais ir pačiu pasakojimu. Čia man jo pritrūko � niekas nepasiliko ilgesniam laikui, nors po pirmo žvilgsnio į knygos aprašymą būčiau tikėjusis, kad nutiks priešingai.
Senokai knygoje esu sutikusi tokį erzinantį pagrindinį veikėją. Kūrinio pradžioje buvau suintriguota, jo kaip vaiko personažas nekliuvo ir tik sužadino smalsumą, bet antroje dalyje jau suaugęs šios knygos herojus priima tiek keistų ir sunkiai paaiškinamų sprendimų, kad ima trūkti pasiteisinimų. Ir manau, kad čia išlenda pagrindinė knygos problema � viskas praplaukta pakankamai paviršiumi, trūksta niuansų, subtilumo, gylio, gal dar bent 100 ar net kiek daugiau puslapių, kuriuose išgryninami veikėjai ir pasikapstoma giliau jų galvose (visgi veiksmas vyksta psichiatrinėje ligoninėje). Mat aprėpti čia bandoma daug, o ir manau, kad pagrindą autorė turėjo tikrai tvirtą, bet tam tikri dalykai per greitai nustumiami į šalį, o kiti, rodos, palikti be jokio konteksto.
Tai vienas tų kūrinių, norinčių provokuoti diskusijas, ir tai pasirodė sveikintina. Galima kvestionuoti tiek veikėjų poelgius, tie gydymo su LSD subtilybes, tiek teismo verdiktus, bet tam norisi glaudesnio ryšio su veikėjais ir pačiu pasakojimu. Čia man jo pritrūko � niekas nepasiliko ilgesniam laikui, nors po pirmo žvilgsnio į knygos aprašymą būčiau tikėjusis, kad nutiks priešingai.
April 21, 2024
Skaitydamas maniausi permatęs autorės užmačias ir turėjau sugalvojęs dvi galimas romano pabaigas, net džiaugiausi savo įžvalgumu ir laukiau to išrišimo, bet rašytoja nustebino užbaigdama savaip. Vis tik mano sukurtos pabaigos man patiko labiau už tą, kurią perskaičiau, todėl duodu keturias žvaigždutes, o romanas geras!
August 26, 2021
3.75 🐇🐇🐇🐇
December 11, 2022
A short book doesn’t always equal an easy read, and this is especially true in the case of Rabbit Foot Bill.
Despite its scarcely-two-hundred pages, I found myself having to put it down so many times because reading further was just too much, emotionally, however I don’t regret having read it at all, quite the opposite. It made me think, it made me question, I dreamed of this book after I was finished and it has been haunting me ever since I started reading it.
I wanted to write “this is a tale about love� and here again I am questioning myself. Is it really love what it talks about? It’s certainly a story about some pretty strong feelings and the devastating consequences they can have on people’s lives. But there is so much more: family, trauma, growing up, and a good part of the book is dedicated to mental illness, psychoanalysis, doctors, and the unfair treatment that mental institution patients were reserved in the 20th century.
Although the synopsis might suggest otherwise, there is no big “mystery� to be uncovered thanks to some dramatic plot twist, but we have this unreliable narrator at the beginning that slowly starts uncovering some truths about his own and other people’s past. I liked the fact that despite learning a few more things towards the end, the reader is not left with a tidy resolution explaining “everything�, but where there is one answer, more questions arise. And learning more about the why does not make the what of the story less painful one bit. Another aspect of the book I appreciated is that, while it was a very emotional read, I never felt manipulated by the author to feel in particular way, but I feel like the book has pushed me to be more empathic, more mindful of my own feelings and actions and the reasons behind them, together with the consequences they might have on others.
I highly recommend reading this book with your friend (family/SO/book club...) as you will probably want to discuss it with someone the moment you put it down.
Despite its scarcely-two-hundred pages, I found myself having to put it down so many times because reading further was just too much, emotionally, however I don’t regret having read it at all, quite the opposite. It made me think, it made me question, I dreamed of this book after I was finished and it has been haunting me ever since I started reading it.
I wanted to write “this is a tale about love� and here again I am questioning myself. Is it really love what it talks about? It’s certainly a story about some pretty strong feelings and the devastating consequences they can have on people’s lives. But there is so much more: family, trauma, growing up, and a good part of the book is dedicated to mental illness, psychoanalysis, doctors, and the unfair treatment that mental institution patients were reserved in the 20th century.
Although the synopsis might suggest otherwise, there is no big “mystery� to be uncovered thanks to some dramatic plot twist, but we have this unreliable narrator at the beginning that slowly starts uncovering some truths about his own and other people’s past. I liked the fact that despite learning a few more things towards the end, the reader is not left with a tidy resolution explaining “everything�, but where there is one answer, more questions arise. And learning more about the why does not make the what of the story less painful one bit. Another aspect of the book I appreciated is that, while it was a very emotional read, I never felt manipulated by the author to feel in particular way, but I feel like the book has pushed me to be more empathic, more mindful of my own feelings and actions and the reasons behind them, together with the consequences they might have on others.
I highly recommend reading this book with your friend (family/SO/book club...) as you will probably want to discuss it with someone the moment you put it down.
September 12, 2022
Ausnahmsweise ging es nach dem Ende der Leseprobe und bis zum Schluss so gut weiter, wie der Anfang war. Unerwartete Wendungen, am besten vorher nichts lesen, keine Rezensionen, keinen Klappentext.
September 26, 2021
After a string of not so enjoyable reads, it was reassuring to listen to this audiobook and really connect. It took place in Saskatchewan, during the time of LSD experiments in psychiatric hospitals. A lonely young boy befriends a loner in his small prairie town that everyone calls Rabbit Foot Bill. Bill shockingly and without remorse murders another child, which lands him in a psychiatric hospital. The boy grows up to become a psychiatrist and ends up working at this hospital and reconnecting with Bill, who is a patient there. Tragedy and painful memories form the basis of this book.
The gentle and thoughtful prose made this story. I was fully captivated and invested in the plot. This historical fiction was a fascinating look at the LSD experiments that actually happened. Both doctors and patients alike engaged in this thought-to-be groundbreaking therapy. A heartfelt story that’s worth the read.
The gentle and thoughtful prose made this story. I was fully captivated and invested in the plot. This historical fiction was a fascinating look at the LSD experiments that actually happened. Both doctors and patients alike engaged in this thought-to-be groundbreaking therapy. A heartfelt story that’s worth the read.
October 24, 2020
There appears to be a fascinating real life story behind this book and I can see a great novel or piece of reporting that could be written about it. But this book left me disappointed. The middle section in the mental hospital (covering at least half the book) contributes almost nothing to the story and the characters and place do not ring true. The main character, especially in this section, is so weak and unsympathetic that there's no one to hang onto and I wondered how he could possibly have qualified as a doctor given these character qualities. The bits at the beginning and end are somewhat redemptive, they tell a story that makes sense at least.
September 29, 2020
A fascinating, thought provoking and moving story!
The writing is beautifully restrained but equally captivating, as it achingly explores the reality of trauma and tragedy. Based on a true story, the novel perfectly evokes the rural atmosphere of the prairies. I was unfamiliar with the long demolished Weyburn Mental Hospital and the shocking LSD experiments performed there.
A truly understated masterpiece and now my favourite from the hugely gifted Helen Humphreys!
The writing is beautifully restrained but equally captivating, as it achingly explores the reality of trauma and tragedy. Based on a true story, the novel perfectly evokes the rural atmosphere of the prairies. I was unfamiliar with the long demolished Weyburn Mental Hospital and the shocking LSD experiments performed there.
A truly understated masterpiece and now my favourite from the hugely gifted Helen Humphreys!
February 13, 2020
2.5 stars/5
This was a back-and-forth experience for me. After reading the first fifty pages, I expected a thrilling and emotional story about the ties between mental health and the criminal justice system. However, I gradually became more and more disappointed. While it is succinctly written and engaging enough in plot, it wasn't quite lyrical or exceptionally literary.
And while the plot was engaging, it wasn't always logical, in my opinion. For example, the main character, Leonard, is incredibly lucky/privileged to have a good job at a psychiatric hospital right out of medical school. Although he talks constantly about his desire to "help those who cannot help themselves," he is, at almost every turn, sabotaging himself with no immediately discernable reason (i.e., sleeping with his boss's wife; fraternizing with a patient, a former friend who committed a murder in front of him, who is not on his ward and who his boss expressly forbid him to spend time with, etc.). Therefore, the want>obstacle>action>reveal/discovery that raises the stakes structure that should govern every book is disrupted; in other words, Leonard is passive. When Leonard gets fired for letting a patient get lost, I wasn't surprised, and I didn't feel any sympathy.
There is a strange bond between Leonard and the eponymous Rabbit Foot Bill, one that left me frustratedly scratching my head. Bill "knows madness;" he commits a murder in Part One when Leonard is a boy and one in Part Two when Leonard is a recently-fired doctor at the psychiatric hospital. Why does Leonard continually put himself in the company of Rabbit Foot Bill? It is unclear; Leonard is, again, passive. He skirts around the issue again and again, but there's not enough evidence for me to rule that this is irony.
In Part Three, Leonard starts seeing one of the doctors from the hospital for regular therapy, a doctor that he calls "a real friend." Herein lies another issue: this relationship was not developed in Parts One or Two, so I have little investment in their relationship. This friend, Dr. Scott, believes that Leonard was abused by Rabbit Foot Bill as a boy and, logically, refuses to give Leonard any information about Bill, who, after the murder, was returned to a hospital for the criminally insane. Later, in Part Five when Leonard returns home for his father's funeral, it's revealed that he was abused by his father, not by Bill, which is meant to explain Leonard's obsession with Bill. I found this unsatisfactory, and I also found the rushed pacing in the last 50 pages unsatisfactory.
I often feel conflicted about works that are based on true events. On one hand, they can be a window into the past so that contemporary readers are made familiar with important events and encouraged to learn more through factual research. On the other hand, faults of these stories are easily blamed on the fact that the author simply "wasn't there." How much can we satisfactorily (and sometimes ethically) extrapolate from snippets of real lives lived long ago? I'm not sure, but I don't think Rabbit Foot Bill pulled or created enough.
If you're in the habit of reading for pleasure, without analyzing and critiquing too much, I think this is a decent book and a quick read. I could go on and on about my thoughts on the plot, how I wish there had been more period details to immerse the reader in the setting of 20th century Canada, and the questions I still have. But, to put an end to an already lengthy review (sorry!), I can't say I recommend this title.
This was a back-and-forth experience for me. After reading the first fifty pages, I expected a thrilling and emotional story about the ties between mental health and the criminal justice system. However, I gradually became more and more disappointed. While it is succinctly written and engaging enough in plot, it wasn't quite lyrical or exceptionally literary.
And while the plot was engaging, it wasn't always logical, in my opinion. For example, the main character, Leonard, is incredibly lucky/privileged to have a good job at a psychiatric hospital right out of medical school. Although he talks constantly about his desire to "help those who cannot help themselves," he is, at almost every turn, sabotaging himself with no immediately discernable reason (i.e., sleeping with his boss's wife; fraternizing with a patient, a former friend who committed a murder in front of him, who is not on his ward and who his boss expressly forbid him to spend time with, etc.). Therefore, the want>obstacle>action>reveal/discovery that raises the stakes structure that should govern every book is disrupted; in other words, Leonard is passive. When Leonard gets fired for letting a patient get lost, I wasn't surprised, and I didn't feel any sympathy.
There is a strange bond between Leonard and the eponymous Rabbit Foot Bill, one that left me frustratedly scratching my head. Bill "knows madness;" he commits a murder in Part One when Leonard is a boy and one in Part Two when Leonard is a recently-fired doctor at the psychiatric hospital. Why does Leonard continually put himself in the company of Rabbit Foot Bill? It is unclear; Leonard is, again, passive. He skirts around the issue again and again, but there's not enough evidence for me to rule that this is irony.
In Part Three, Leonard starts seeing one of the doctors from the hospital for regular therapy, a doctor that he calls "a real friend." Herein lies another issue: this relationship was not developed in Parts One or Two, so I have little investment in their relationship. This friend, Dr. Scott, believes that Leonard was abused by Rabbit Foot Bill as a boy and, logically, refuses to give Leonard any information about Bill, who, after the murder, was returned to a hospital for the criminally insane. Later, in Part Five when Leonard returns home for his father's funeral, it's revealed that he was abused by his father, not by Bill, which is meant to explain Leonard's obsession with Bill. I found this unsatisfactory, and I also found the rushed pacing in the last 50 pages unsatisfactory.
I often feel conflicted about works that are based on true events. On one hand, they can be a window into the past so that contemporary readers are made familiar with important events and encouraged to learn more through factual research. On the other hand, faults of these stories are easily blamed on the fact that the author simply "wasn't there." How much can we satisfactorily (and sometimes ethically) extrapolate from snippets of real lives lived long ago? I'm not sure, but I don't think Rabbit Foot Bill pulled or created enough.
If you're in the habit of reading for pleasure, without analyzing and critiquing too much, I think this is a decent book and a quick read. I could go on and on about my thoughts on the plot, how I wish there had been more period details to immerse the reader in the setting of 20th century Canada, and the questions I still have. But, to put an end to an already lengthy review (sorry!), I can't say I recommend this title.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 28, 2020
There is something in Helen Humphreys' prose that just gets to me every time. I always walk away from her books simply awed by the emotional resonance of the writing. This book is no exception.
It's the story of Leonard Flint and his long emotional relationship with the recluse Bill Dunn, known to everyone in town as Rabbit Foot Bill. At a young age, Leonard strikes up a friendship with Bill as a means to escape a deeply unhappy home. It's a private source of joy for Leonard until Bill commits a violent crime and is imprisoned for life. As a young adult newly graduated from medical school, Leonard meets Bill again at a psychiatric hospital in Saskatchewan. A lot happens during this time in their relationship.
It takes till the final section to unravel the mystery of Leonard's need for Bill, and it's a breathtaking disclosure, but so well worth the trip. I simply loved this book.
It's the story of Leonard Flint and his long emotional relationship with the recluse Bill Dunn, known to everyone in town as Rabbit Foot Bill. At a young age, Leonard strikes up a friendship with Bill as a means to escape a deeply unhappy home. It's a private source of joy for Leonard until Bill commits a violent crime and is imprisoned for life. As a young adult newly graduated from medical school, Leonard meets Bill again at a psychiatric hospital in Saskatchewan. A lot happens during this time in their relationship.
It takes till the final section to unravel the mystery of Leonard's need for Bill, and it's a breathtaking disclosure, but so well worth the trip. I simply loved this book.
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