Today’s guest is historical fiction novelist Glenn Booth and he’s chatting with me about Them Days.
During his virtual book tour, Glenn will be awarding a $15 Amazon or Barnes and Noble (winner’s choice) gift card to a lucky randomly drawn winner. To be entered for a chance to win, use the form below. To increase your chances of winning, feel free to visit his other tour stops and enter there, too!
Bio:
Glenn was born and raised in Winnipeg (Canada), and lived with his Ukrainian grandmother after he and his brother were orphaned just before Glenn’s 14th birthday. He attended the University of Manitoba and the University of Alberta where he respectively obtained his Bachelor of Science and his Master of Arts (Economics) degrees.
Among other jobs, Glenn had a long career with Canada’s National Energy Board, where he held positions including Chief Economist, Executive Director Corporate Planning and External Relations, and Executive Director of Communications and Human Resources.
Since Glenn retired from the Board, he has been consulting as a regulatory economist and pursuing his passion for writing. His first novel, Demons in Every Man, was published by Friesen Press in 2019 (ISBN 978-1-5255-4364-7). It is a murder mystery set in the Calgary oil patch, and revolves around a cover-up of a proposed new oil sands plant and the water pollution that the project will cause.
Glenn’s second novel, Them Days, is near and dear to his heart as it is inspired by the stories that his grandmother told him about growing up as a Ukrainian immigrant on the homestead near Gimli, and as a servant girl in an English ‘great house” in Winnipeg.
The author lives in Calgary with his wife, Elisabeth Cardoso Pereira, who is originally from Brazil. Glenn and Elisabeth have two grown sons who have now flown the coop and are successfully making their way in the world. Glenn enjoys returning to Winnipeg every summer to visit with his cousins and old friends, and to enjoy some cottage life on Lake Winnipeg.
Welcome, Glenn. Please tell us about your current release.
It’s the story of a young Ukrainian immigrant, Sofiya, to a homestead in Manitoba, Canada in the early 1900s. It follows Sofiya as she grows up on the farm and then moves to the ‘big city’, Winnipeg, to be a maid to a wealthy English family. There, she experiences condescension and discrimination from the English, the internment of the Ukrainians in concentration camps across Canada during WW1, the Spanish Flu, and the Winnipeg General Strike, a landmark event in the history of the struggle for workers’ rights in North America.
Sofiya struggles with all of this as she comes of age and finds her first love during the turmoil of the general strike and the class strife occurring in Winnipeg and across much of the globe at the time.
What inspired you to write this book?
My grandmother was a Ukrainian immigrant who lived through all of the events that Sofiya experiences. I was raised by her after my parents split and my mother subsequently passed away, and she often told me stories about “Them Days”. While I wasn’t that interested as a teenage boy, her stories stuck with me and, as I grew older, I discovered what an incredible period it was in our history: the war, throwing eastern Europeans into concentration camps, the devastation of the Spanish Flu (far worse than Covid), and the incredible division in society at the time between ‘capitalists’ and the working poor.
So, first and foremost, the novel is an homage to my grandmother, her family, and thousands of Ukrainian immigrants who struggled against almost impossible odds to succeed and help build modern Canada. Secondly, it is a vehicle to educate people about the long history of discrimination in Canada, while telling an engaging story with an engaging heroine at the centre of it all.
Excerpt from Them Days:
About ten minutes later, the Mounties came charging back from the south again. There were fewer of them this time, but they seemed better organized. They thundered through in a tight group, and everyone scattered before again throwing rocks at them as they passed by. I think a couple of them were hit pretty hard, and at least one fell off his horse. Pandemonium ensued, and some protesters dragged a person off to the other side of the road.
Frank was screaming the whole time and looking for things to throw, while at the same time yelling at us, “Go home. It isn’t safe for you here.”
Helen grabbed me by the arm more than once. “Come on, Sophie, he’s right. We should go.”
But she didn’t make a move to leave herself, and there was no way I was going to miss out on the excitement and action. Staying showed support for the strikers—leaving would be cowardly.
The whole thing unfolded like some surreal film, being run over and over again, with the Mounties making successive charges from one end and then the other along Main Street. They once again rode back through the crowd with their clubs, and this time it seemed that the crowd only hurled insults.
“Bastards!”
“Capitalist lackeys!”
“It’s not fair! We just want a fair deal!
Someone next to me yelled, “What the hell do they think they’re doing? We weren’t doing anything except standing on the curb to watch a parade!”
After they passed, people again poured into the street, but Helen, Frank, and I at least retained enough sense to stand on the sidewalk as the Mounties regrouped for their next charge.
This time, they came holding their guns in their right hands and clubs in the left, and they charged right into the people on the street. I couldn’t see how they held their reins, but I remember thinking they were darn good riders.
Suddenly, to our collective shock, they started firing their guns. Everyone started running, and women’s screams joined the general cacophony.
“Someone’s shot!”
“Don’t worry. They’re using blanks!”
My heart was hammering away, and Helen and I hugged each other. Frank was yelling obscenities and tried to drag us away.
“They wouldn’t use live ammunition on us!”
“Don’t be afraid. They’re not real bullets!” another person yelled.
It’s impossible to explain our actions. The whole crowd seemed to go into denial—no one believed there was any real danger.
The film played itself out again with a few minutes of calm as the Mounties passed off north and circled around, preparing to charge again. I looked up the street in the other direction and saw that a huge group of Specials had gathered in the street, carrying their “emblems of democracy.”
People started yelling, “They’re coming again. The bastards are coming back!”
The hoofbeats of the returning horses reverberated down Main, causing my heartbeat to accelerate. I looked across the street and saw Mikhail. I yelled his name as loud as I could—he turned, and our eyes locked for an instant. Even at that distance, his eyes shot lances into my soul.
And then an older man ran into the street in front of the on-charging Mounties. I saw him reach down for a brick and turn when he was shot at point-blank range in the chest. He flew back into the dust, and several people, including me, simultaneously screamed. The horses roared by, and then dozens of people ran into the street, totally obscuring my view.
Before I could catch my breath, the Specials had descended on the crowd, freely swinging their clubs. There were too many of them between Mikhail and me. Frank grabbed me by the arm and yelled, “Run!”
I tried to resist, but it was crazy. The Specials were hitting people indiscriminately, and to stand in their way would have been insane. We made it to William Street and ran away from the meleé. Looking back, I saw a Special raise a club and hit a defenseless man on the head and knock him to the ground—it looked as if the man had partially blocked the blow with his arm, but it was horrible, just horrible.
What exciting story are you working on next?
The life of a robin in a short novel format. I started work on it many years ago when my children were still young. I think it is a good story, so I am going back to complete it.
When did you first consider yourself a writer?
Only in the last few months with the publication of Them Days. Although I have published another novel, that seemed to be a one-off achievement. Now that I have published two novels, and am receiving super positive feedback about Them Days, I think I can consider myself to be a writer.
Do you write full-time? If so, what’s your work day like? If not, what do you do other than write and how do you find time to write?
No, I don’t write full time. I am recently retired, and am enjoying life pursuing a lot of my outdoor activities: hiking, scrambling, mountain biking, and X-country skiing in the Canadian Rockies. My wife and I are also volunteering in a small way to assist new immigrants get established in Canada. I find it easier to write in the long cold days of winter we have where I live in Calgary, Alberta. It’s difficult to write when it’s gorgeous outside and the mountains are calling to me.
What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?
Not sure that I have one, but perhaps it’s having my characters say things out loud that would be better kept to themselves.
As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
An astronaut.
Anything additional you want to share with the readers?
Writing can be painful and frustrating, but it sure is rewarding when it comes together, and people tell you that you’ve written a beautiful and meaningful story.
Links:
Website | Facebook | Amazon US | Amazon CA | Indigo Chapters | Barnes and Noble | Book Depository
Thanks for hosting!
Thank you for sharing your interview, bio and book details, I have enjoyed reading about you and your work and I am looking forward to reading Them Days. On a personal note, when I was a child I wanted to be an astronaut as well, I was in my teens before I realized that my poor vision made that dream an impossibility.
Great excerpt and the book sounds like a good read.
What is your favorite book?
What is your favorite TV show?