View from a Kite

In the 1970s, Gwen is stuck in one of the last tuberculosis sanatoriums in Nova Scotia. She documents her surroundings in the hospital, especially the characters living with her in the TB ward. Gwen's method of handling her isolating sickness is to learn as much about it as she can, and interspersed throughout the book are Gwen's research notes on the disease itself. But threaded through her writing are glimpses of a violent stain on her recent past. Gwen's father shot her mother, tried to shoot Gwen, and killed himself. But tragedy is not the crux of the story; Gwen's humor, strength, and resilience in the face of illness and adversity are.