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On Veil Creek returns to the setting of A Strange Kind of Comfort. The Nychuk family farm is in financial distress and siblings Marissa and Tommy witness their parents' failing marriage. Their mother turns to the new pastor at the Church of Goodness and Light while their father finds comfort in a bottle.
When tragedy strikes, the ensuing turmoil pulls the siblings apart. Tommy is at odds with their brother Jim and Mother becomes even more distant.
After years of estrangement, the siblings return to Ross Prairie. Marissa once again encounters Yvette Pelletier, the community misfit, who seems to know all the town's secrets.
Tom is desperate to know what really happened on Veil Creek all those years ago.
A tale of family trauma, grief and the ugly secrets small towns harbour, On Veil Creek examines the complicated dynamics of farm families and how misconceptions and silence can tear them apart.
The novel is told in two distinct voices; Caroline Webb came of age in the 1950's while my other main character, Sarah Bilyk, was born in 1958. I wanted to tell a story about older women and the relationships they nurture while exploring themes of mother-daughter bonds and motherhood. To honour my Ukrainian heritage, I wrote about an old faith-healing technique known as wax reading. I have always been fascinated by the process and the remarkable stories of healing. I also wanted to include a mystery to keep my readers turning the page, thus the character of willful, prideful, Becca Webb was born.
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I hope my readers love my characters and the simple, yet rich lives they lead. I want you to fall in love along with Caroline and Sarah, feeling their heartaches and joys. Visually, I want my readers to experience the prairie skies and lush Manitoba parkland. In the end, the novel is a story of motherhood and an inter-generational love between friends that proves not all mother-daughter bonds are biological.
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