Inspired by his experience volunteering in Vancouver's notorious Downtown East Side, Michael Christie explores the humanity of people living on the fringes of society in his debut collection of nine linked stories. Indeed, his characters include the drug addicted, the homeless, the mentally ill, as well as those who interact with the city's outcasts.
"The Beggar's Garden" compels the reader with tough, lucid prose as it chronicles broken lives and self-inflicted suffering. A lonely woman calls 911 thinking she's in love with one of the city's paramedics; a man whose marriage has just ended befriends a panhandler; a psychiatric patient tries to convince the Ministry that one of his orderlies works as an assassin.
Christie treats his characters tenderly and manages to create genuine sympathy for the damaged and disaffected. Ultimately and most impressively, he gives voice to the unwanted figures of society, shining attention onto a largely ignored population.
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