Payback

Written by Margaret Atwood

Series Title: CBC Massey Lectures

240 Pages
9780887848728

BUSINESS & ECONOMICS / Economic History
LITERARY CRITICISM / General
SOCIAL SCIENCE / Folklore & Mythology
BUSINESS & ECONOMICS
LITERARY CRITICISM
SOCIAL SCIENCE

$9.95

PRINT VERSION ALSO AVAILABLE

Publication Date March 15, 2007

Thirteen-year-old Charley Callaghan is coping with some difficult changes. His family has recently moved to Vancouver from Ireland, and his mother has died of cancer. Now he is desperately trying to fit in - in a new school, a new city, a new country - while holding a part-time job and keeping an eye on his little sister, Annie. Charley's red hair and Irish accent at first make him a target of the class bullies, but he is tough enough - just - to keep them at bay.

So it is almost a relief to him when the bullies find a new target, Benny Mason. Charley keeps hoping that Benny will defend himself, but he fails to intervene when the bullying worsens. When Benny commits suicide, Charley is overcome with remorse and guilt. He visits Benny's single mom, Joanna, but instead of confessing, finds himself trying to make amends by doing chores, running errands and befriending Benny's little brother. Can Charley find atonement for failing to act? James Heneghan's trademark narrative drive, vivid characters and strong social message make this a striking study of loss and renewal.

Runner-up for the Axiom Business Book Awards - Business Ethics 2008

Short-listed for the OLA Evergreen Award (Forest of Reading) 2008

Selected for the Globe and Mail Top 100 Best Books of the Year 2008

Short-listed for the National Business Book Award 2009

Contributors

Margaret Atwood
Margaret Atwood is one of the world's preeminent writers -- winner of the Booker Prize, the Scotiabank Giller Prize, and the Governor General's Literary Award, among many other honours. She is the bestselling author of more than thirty-five books of poetry, fiction, and nonfiction, including The Handmaid's Tale, Alias Grace, The Blind Assassin, and Oryx and Crake. She and her spouse, writer Graeme Gibson, are the Joint Honourary Presidents of the Rare Bird Club within Birdlife International. She is an International Vice President of PEN.

Reviews

""Ms. Atwood is a witty and astute writer of broad sympathy and wide-ranging curiosity, and the prose of the book, at once commonsensical and counterintuitive, bristles with insight and implication."" New York Times