I quite enjoy stories that have multiple characters or timelines centered around a dwelling (North Woods comes to mind) and so when I saw that Breakwater Books, a Newfoundland publishing company, was issuing a book by Heidi Wicks based around a St. John’s house—and not just any house, but Canada House—I included it in my order of books from them last summer.

Here, a collection of interrelated stories, includes both multiple characters AND timelines, and the mansion located at 74 Circular Road is the focal point. Some characters appear more than once (including a crow named Brandon Lee—IYKYK) and others we read about only once. But each one has a unique voice. There’s a touch of magical realism, a touch of historical fiction, a touch of speculative fiction, all focused on the house and its residents over the course of 100+ years. I also loved all of the references that placed the book firmly in St. John’s.