been awarded residencies and fellowships by the Djerassi Resident Artists Program in Woodside, California; the Hindman Settlement School Oak Ledge, in Knott County, Kentucky; the Jentel Artist Residency in Banner, Wyoming; and Fishtrap’s Gathering of Writers in Joseph, Oregon. She lives on a ranch in the high desert of Eastern Oregon.
Steele's new novel is In the Fields of Fatherless Children.
Recently I asked the author about what she was reading. Steele's reply:
I haven't been finding a great deal of time to read for pleasure due to my novel release. My days are filled with last minute emails from my publisher or prospective hosts for festivals, readings, and signings. That said, I've just listened to an amazing audiobook and am glad to have a chance to recommend it, just as it was recommended to me by a writer friend: A Place Called Winter, by Patrick Gale (2016).Follow Pamela Steele on Facebook, Instagram, and Threads.
The novel, set in Edwardian England and Canada, is a lovely, bittersweet period piece. Harry Cane, the main character, is a quiet, routine-centered man who is self-conscious of his anxiety-induced stutter. He conscientiously follows the expectations of his family and proper society. It is only after he marries and fathers a child that he finds himself attracted to another man and is able to precariously acknowledge his sexuality. The men enter into a passionate, disastrous affair. When a family member discovers what society considers and illicit relationship, Harry is forced to leave his home for Saskatchewan, where he, unaccustomed to manual labor, begins proving up a homestead with intent tosend for his wife and daughter when he owns the land outright. Of course, there is an obstacle-creating bad guy who interferes with Harry's try at living a peaceful, honest life.
When the story moved to Winter, a town on the cinematic Canadian prairie, I began to envision the Terrence Malick film Days of Heaven. I remembered the lonely and beautiful landscape of Denis Johnson's Train Dreams, especially the movie adaptation. In fact, Paul, Harry's nearest neighbor, reminds me a great deal of Robert, the protagonist of Johnson's novel.
The novel's plot is well-paced with adeptly situated flashbacks. For instance, the story begins post WWI and in an insane asylum where Harry is a patient. The reader gets a sense of the telescoping nature of time, especially when war looms and love seems delicate and just out of reach.
The writing in A Place Called Winter is gorgeous, and, as I understand, the story is an echo of the life of one of Gayle's grandfathers. It carries two of my favorite themes: resilience and, in the absence of familial support, the cobbling together of a new one. I grew to love Harry very much and found my stoic self crying on several occasions while listening.
My Book, The Movie: In The Fields of Fatherless Children.
Q&A with Pamela Steele.
--Marshal Zeringue
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