Book Description

International chef Jake Hardy has it all. Celebrity, thriving career, plenty of friends, a happy family and faithful dog. Until one day when a tragic accident tears it all apart. Struggling to recover, Hardy finds himself in a strange new world--a snow-swept prairie town that time forgot--a place where nothing makes sense. Cold is beautiful. Simple is complex. And doubts begin to surface about whether Jake's tragedy was truly an accident after all. As the sun sets in the Land of Living Skies, Hardy and his glamourous, seventy-eight-year-old transgender neighbour find themselves ensnared in multiple murders separated by decades. In Bidulka's love letter to life on the prairies he delivers a story of grief and loss that manages to burst with joy, tenderness and hope. Redolent of his earlier works, Going to Beautiful brings us unexpected, under-represented characters in settings that immediately feel familiar and beloved. Beautiful--a place where what you need may not be what you were looking for.Praise for Going to Beautiful:…Anthony Bidulka has created a whole new genre: Saskatchewan Gothic, which will both chill and warm your heart. Simply wonderful! Alan Bradley, author of the Flavia de Luce series including The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie Going to Beautiful…is a testament not only to Bidulka’s skill in plotting and other novelistic stratagems, but even more to the unique setting and the wonderfully textured characters… Felice Picano, author of Like People in History and Pursued: Lillian’s Story, companion to Pursuit: A Victorian Entertainment Going to Beautiful is poignant, often funny, always wise…the quiet joy and hopefulness of this novel are gifts readers will value for years to come. Gail Bowen, author of the Joanne Kilbourn Shreve mystery series including An Image in the Lake Anthony Bidulka has pulled off a literary coup in Going to Beautiful. Deftly balancing humour and heart…Bidulka hits it out of the park.Terry Fallis, two-time winner of the Stephen Leacock Medal for Humour