Budding writer Giovanni Zappacosta-O’Hara suspects there is more to his family’s legacy than he is being told. His parents tell the story in devastating, scandalous and hilarious tales, while Gio and his friend joke that there must be lies woven into the details. When his friend gets cancer, the laughter stops. Gio can’t bear to watch the disease eat away at his life, his mind and the person he loves.

Filled with shame, Gio flees to New York, using his family history as a flimsy excuse – he will get to the bottom of the matter. What happens next forces Gio to confront his cowardice and find another motivation for his book: redemption. As he retells the stories, he discovers family secrets that make him question his identity. The hilarious and warm characters he meets along the way give him surprising opportunities to get over himself – but will he take them? (By Enfield & Wizenty / Great Plains Press)

Matthew Fox’s first short story collection Cities of Weather was nominated for the McAuslan First Book Prize of the Quebec Writers’ Federation. His works have appeared in publications such as Toronto Life, Maisonneuve and New Quarterly. Fox grew up in Ontario and now lives in Berlin.