The Inquirer
hen an accident jeopardizing the family farm draws Amiah Williams back to Kingsley, Alberta, population 1431, she doesn’t expect her homecoming to make front-page news.
But there she is in The Inquirer, the mysterious tabloid that is airing her hometown’s dirty laundry. Alongside stories of high school rivalries and truck-bed love affairs, disturbing revelations about Amiah’s past and present are selling papers and fuelling small-town gossip. As the stakes get higher, Amiah must either expose the twisted truth behind The Inquirer or watch her life fall apart again.
Jaclyn Dawn’s debut novel provides an incisive look at the lingering consequences of past relationships and the price of both staying silent and speaking up.
BOOK
PURCHASE
Prologue
Kingsley Grocery was of a dying breed in Alberta, found only in small towns. An old building with mismatched shelving, faded linoleum, and chipped paint. It was too warm in the summer and too cold in the winter, which was hell on the perishables. It might be better described as a convenience store than a grocery store. The new Minimart off the highway next to the truck stop was better: newer, bigger, cheaper.
And yet everyone shopped at Kingsley Grocery at least a couple times a month. Most made excuses. They said they stopped for the convenience. Kingsley Grocery was, after all, sandwiched between the bank and the hardware store in the heart of town. They stopped for the home-baked goods. The owner’s wife, Mrs. Wong, sold her rock-hard cookies and dry squares at the counter. They stopped for the quick checkout, although the three tills at the Minimart could hardly be described as busy. They also said they wanted to support small business owners in the community, even if that meant paying five dollars more for a carton of eggs, a gallon of milk, and a loaf of bread, all of which would spoil a week sooner than the same purchases made at the Minimart. Few admitted the real reason everyone chose Kingsley Grocery.
The newspaper rack stood at the end of the counter. On the bottom shelf was the Edmonton Journal, the middle the Edmonton Sun, and the top the Kingsley Inquirer. Alongside the papers was a locked box the size of a dinner roast with ‘Kingsley Inquirer: Advertisment, Submision & Payment’ misspelt on the side. Even Mr. Wong claimed not to know who was behind the Inquirer, but Kingsley Grocery was the only store that sold it.
The Inquirer was the real reason people shopped at Kingsley Grocery.
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• NeWest announces their 51st addition to the Nunatak First Fiction Series!
“In The Inquirer, Jaclyn Dawn has crafted something so rare-a great story full of fascinating characters, sly humour, and understated intelligence-that news of its appearance might just get reported in the tabloids her novel so lovingly satirizes. Amiah Williams’s journey back to her hometown of Kingsley, Alberta, is funny and winning, neither of which factors obscure the troubling realities young women too often face.”
– Curtis Gillespie, author of Almost There
“A clever novel that reveals both the anxieties and strengths woven into tight-knit communities. The Inquirer is a thoroughly enjoyable read.”
– Lisa Guenther, author of Friendly Fire
“Dawn sets a brisk, engaging pace while tactfully dealing with the nuances of coercive relationships, the strain of living up to appearances and expectations, and the cost of finding one’s voice. A fresh, enticingly told coming-of-age story.”
– Kirkus Reviews (spoiler warning)
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Logo: Travis Sarvas, Sarvas Design Co. | Author Photo: Michelle Wurban, One Shot Photography | Publisher: NeWest Press
