Into the Unbounded Night by Mitchell James Kaplan

The dreary, grey-brown world of present day Europe she presents effectively contrasts the two locations and eras, each acting as a foil for the other in the way complementary shades of paint such as red and green will vibrate when dabbed side by side onto a canvas….Themes such as colonialism, feminism, classism, power, privilege, unrequited longing, and prejudice were also woven throughout the story, along with some horrific descriptions of cruelty and abuse which were as heartbreaking and grim as those found in Anne-Marie McDonald’s Fall On Your Knees. In the historical narrative, the author paints luscious word portraits of jungle features, dead tigers, rattan furniture, and bright orchids.

The present-day narrative is pleasantly reminiscent of Dan Brown’s The DaVinci Code as Quevillon takes the reader through libraries and archives and dusty storage lockers in search of missing documents and art, including one particularly sought-after painting called “The Parasol Flower”, a portrait of a rare botanical specimen suspected to be a local myth. An historical fiction about a botanical painter living in Malay around the turn of the century is intertwined with the story of a present day meandering PhD student who is searching for the painter’s lost artwork, The Parasol Flower carries us to both Europe and Asia. 'Reading The Parasol Flower, I thought of how many very talented writers we are lucky to have in our region, and that Karen Quevillon is certainly one of them. Here is what the anonymous judges said about my novel: In December, The Parasol Flower was awarded first prize for Fiction at the 28th Annual Hamilton Literary Awards!

Into the Unbounded Night by Mitchell James Kaplan