The Golden Dog

A lush, ambitious historical novel that captures Quebec at a turning point. The year is 1748 and the colony hangs in the balance, war between France and England looms, and the ancient fortress city stands as the last line of defense for New France. Against this backdrop of imperial intrigue, Kirby weaves the stories of two star-crossed lovers: the beautiful Madame De Péan, trapped in a marriage of convenience to a powerful but ruthless man, and Colonel Pierre Philibert, a young officer whose honest face hides a dangerous secret. The narrative pulses with period detail, the clatter of sabots on cobblestones, the constant hum of political calculation in Governor de la Galissonière's court. Kirby understood the golden age of French Canada was ending, and he mourns it beautifully. This is a novel for readers who want to disappear into another world, one of powdered wigs and swordfights and passionate, doomed love.