Robert Chursinoff Launches The Descendants
Robert Chursinoff’s remarkable debut is a distinctively structured, sublimely written tale of love, loss, intergenerational trauma and ultimately, redemption, set amongst one of Canada’s most enigmatic and misunderstood ethno-religious communities.
Chursinoff will launch The Descendants (Nightwood Editions, $24.95) in conjunction with Book Warehouse on Saturday, November 26th from 6 to 9 pm at The Irish Heather (248 E Georgia St., Vancouver). Canapés will be provided alongside live music from Kuba Oms, Dan O’Connell, Wes Regan and Brad Ferguson and Jessicka Lynne of the band Hunting.
Seven years after a brutal encounter with the Hells Angels, two former lovers return to their Doukhobor religious community in the mountains of BC to heal and start new lives. Jonah is a twenty-five-year-old from a disgraced family, injured and battling PTSD from his time as a Marine. Ruby, practically Doukhobor royalty, is a rock star with a substance use disorder. Jonah finds his mother struggling with an eating disorder stemming from her terrorist upbringing in the Doukhobor splinter sect known as the Sons of Freedom. Ruby returns to her young son whom she abandoned, and her overbearing mother, a pious pillar of the community raised to loathe the Sons of Freedom. After a heartfelt reunion, Jonah and Ruby learn that a murderous Hells Angel is still obsessed with revenge for the damage Jonah caused years earlier, and they unwittingly draw their family into a final confrontation that will test long-held pacifist Doukhobor beliefs.
Robert Chursinoff spent 14 years crafting this stunning and deeply personal debut novel. He was born and raised in the Doukhobor community of southeastern British Columbia. He draws inspiration for The Descendants from his upbringing and his years spent drumming for Grammy-nominated duo Tegan and Sara, Australian pop star Ben Lee, the Be Good Tanyas, Juno-nominated performer Kinnie Starr, the Belle Game and many others. His writing has been published in the literary journal Blank Spaces, the anthology Just Words Volume 4, and online in Vice, Nowhere Magazine, Upworthy and Matador Network. As a scriptwriter, he has worked on dozens of Red Bull Media House documentaries and series. He lives in Vancouver, BC, on the traditional, unceded territories of the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh Coast Salish peoples with his partner, their daughter and their dog.
Chursinoff will launch The Descendants (Nightwood Editions, $24.95) in conjunction with Book Warehouse on Saturday, November 26th from 6 to 9 pm at The Irish Heather (248 E Georgia St., Vancouver). Canapés will be provided alongside live music from Kuba Oms, Dan O’Connell, Wes Regan and Brad Ferguson and Jessicka Lynne of the band Hunting.
Seven years after a brutal encounter with the Hells Angels, two former lovers return to their Doukhobor religious community in the mountains of BC to heal and start new lives. Jonah is a twenty-five-year-old from a disgraced family, injured and battling PTSD from his time as a Marine. Ruby, practically Doukhobor royalty, is a rock star with a substance use disorder. Jonah finds his mother struggling with an eating disorder stemming from her terrorist upbringing in the Doukhobor splinter sect known as the Sons of Freedom. Ruby returns to her young son whom she abandoned, and her overbearing mother, a pious pillar of the community raised to loathe the Sons of Freedom. After a heartfelt reunion, Jonah and Ruby learn that a murderous Hells Angel is still obsessed with revenge for the damage Jonah caused years earlier, and they unwittingly draw their family into a final confrontation that will test long-held pacifist Doukhobor beliefs.
Robert Chursinoff spent 14 years crafting this stunning and deeply personal debut novel. He was born and raised in the Doukhobor community of southeastern British Columbia. He draws inspiration for The Descendants from his upbringing and his years spent drumming for Grammy-nominated duo Tegan and Sara, Australian pop star Ben Lee, the Be Good Tanyas, Juno-nominated performer Kinnie Starr, the Belle Game and many others. His writing has been published in the literary journal Blank Spaces, the anthology Just Words Volume 4, and online in Vice, Nowhere Magazine, Upworthy and Matador Network. As a scriptwriter, he has worked on dozens of Red Bull Media House documentaries and series. He lives in Vancouver, BC, on the traditional, unceded territories of the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh Coast Salish peoples with his partner, their daughter and their dog.