Brian Thomas Isaac says the follow-up to his award-winning debut novel mirrors his own life [Video]

It’s the summer of 1968 and 16-year-old Lewis Toma is spending the summer with his cousins while his mom picks fruit in the United States.

It’s a summer of firsts — living in a home with more modern conveniences, like a hot shower, and drinking beer and eating greasy chicken while listening to rock ‘n’ roll music. 

This all happens two years after Lewis’s brother disappeared. 

That’s the situation in Syilx writer Brian Thomas Isaac’s new book, Bones of a Giant, the sequel to his award-winning debut novel All the Quiet Places.

Bones of a Giant mirrors his life, Isaac told CBC’s Radio West host Sarah Penton. 

Growing up on the Okanagan Indian Reserve, he said he and his mother and grandmother were isolated. 

“There was nobody up there. Nobody. We lived in a house with basically the whole world to ourselves. It was lonely, but then we got used to it.”

LISTEN | Brian Thomas Isaac on his latest novel, Bones of a Giant: Celebrated Syilx …