The Great Divide: a novel
By: Conor McCarthy
331 pages
The Great Divide is Conor McCarthy’s debut novel. Born and raised in the Alta Vista neighbourhood of Ottawa, Conor attended McMaster Catholic School, and Immaculata High School, where he excelled in the Drama Focus Program. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature from McGill University in May, 2014. During his student days in Montreal, he contributed to a number of literary publications and created his own literary review, Traffic Cone Quarterly as a forum for new authors.
Conor is a writer/editor currently living in Canmore, Alberta with his partner Kaley and their dog Monty. With the publication of The Great Divide, Conor is completing a collection of short stories for publication later in 2019. In his spare time, Conor can be found skiing, hiking, and climbing any structure composed of rock, snow or ice.
The Story — The Great Divide
Barry Bloburne is a misanthropic real-estate developer with a simple dream: to build the greatest ski resort the world has ever seen. However, a bizarre encounter on an isolated mountain highway brings him face-to-face with the elusive wilderness of the Rockies and introduces him to a set of complications that threaten his dream project, and his very life.
The Great Divide is a whirlwind journey from the conference room to the deep wilds of the Canadian Rocky Mountains. It brings you on a tour of natural wonders, encroaching development, ancient mystery, and the wild characters who call it home.
The story is a mix of mountain adventure, and mystical creatures with a serious message as a commentary on the current struggle between development and conservation of the Canadian wild and sensitive spaces.
The book accurately describes an often foreboding and unforgiving landscape and includes climbing sequences that will appeal to outdoor adventurers. With the mystical creatures, action and villainy, the story has many elements that allow the reader to be trapped in a great story in one of the most emblematic places in Canada.