Desolation Row By Kay Kendall: Review/Interview/Giveaway
by Terrance Mc Arthur
The fish-out-of-water/stranger-in-a-strange-land character has always been a good starting point for fiction. Kay Kendall’s Desolation Row takes Austin Starr out of the water of Texas and drops her into the strange land of Toronto, because Austin’s draft-resisting husband (He doesn’t like being called a draft “dodger.”) brings her there during the Vietnam War era. The people celebrate Decoration Day instead of Veterans Day, women use the “washroom” instead of the “ladies room,” and the mailboxes are red (with a crown on them) instead of blue (with an eagle).
