Miss Lamp
By (Author) Christopher Ewart
Coach House Books
Coach House Books
15th April 2006
Canada
General
Fiction
FIC
Paperback
96
Width 127mm, Height 203mm
283g
When a mad dentist steals people's teeth, Miss Lamp comes to town.
Miss Lamp, a young and savvy lawyer, is holed up in Room 32 of the Peachland Hotel, waiting for a perfect grilled cheese sandwich and reviewing the case of Delano, the teeth-stealing dentist everybody loves to hate.
Meanwhile, the narrator takes us on a tour of Miss Lamp's memories, stories of her family, the adventures of those who knock on her door. There's Miss Lamp's mother, Abby, and her mean grandmother. There's the supremely lovable Paper Boy, abused by Delano and in love with a younger Miss Lamp. There's naive Room Service Boy, on the hunt for the perfect tomato soup to accompany Miss Lamp's grilled cheese; at the grocery store he meets the assertive Banana Tray Hair could it be love
These characters' stories weave together into a tangle - like moths to a light, they all kaleidoscope back to our Miss Lamp in her floral hotel room. She invites you in to smell the flowers, to walk in someone else's shoes, to eat a peach, to watch a magpie pick for gold.
Chris Ewart lives in Calgary, where he recently received his MA in English. His play Billy's Drums will appear in 2007 with FireBelly Theatre in Calgary. He teaches effective writing at the University of Calgary. Miss Lamp is his first book.