Black Creek by Susan Grundy
Reviewed by Katie Ingram
The impact of generational trauma, even on those who are far removed from the people and place in question, is the focus of Susan Grundy’s Black Creek. The book focuses on Kate Stong Smythe, an architect based in Montreal, who after her mother dies, is plagued with visions of Stong family women, a real-life family who once called the Black Creek area of Toronto home. With these visions in hand, Kate sets out on a journey of self-discovery while coming to terms with the past, as the story moves between Toronto and Montreal and the past and present.
Given Kate’s prickly nature, Black Creek does take a while to get adjusted to and, at the beginning, appears a bit too slow because of it. As a reader, I found myself putting it down during the first 100 pages, something that changed afterward. Kate often seems a bit too guarded, but this all makes sense once the story gets going and Kate becomes a more sympathetic and understood character. As she is the focal point of the book, the other Stong women aren’t covered as much, but it doesn’t feel as if their stories are incomplete. Them and their lives are essential to Kate and her development. Their choices not only impacted their lives, but those who came after, long after they are gone.
Slowness aside, Black Creek is a worthwhile novel, full of rich, diverse characters and story. As a side note, Grundy is a descendant of the Stong family, so while the story is fictional, it has a personal touch to it which makes it more than just a fictional story. It’s family history.
About the Author
Inspired by the “pure vida” while living in Costa Rica, Susan Grundy veered from her thirty-year career in marketing to writing stories about the weight of emotional distress and how to step into an easier way of being. After her short fiction appeared in the Danforth Review and Montréal Writes, Susan dove into Mad Sisters, a highly personalized account of her caregiving journey for an older sister diagnosed with schizophrenia at the age of thirteen. When not at her desk, Susan can be found walking in nature towards a café. She divides her time between Montreal and London.
About the Reviewer
Katie Ingram is a freelance journalist and the author of Breaking Disaster: Newspaper Stories of the Halifax Explosion and The Undesirables: A History of Rockhead Prison. She’s also a part-time instructor with the University of King’s College School of Journalism, Writing and Publishing.
Book Details
Publisher : Inanna Publications and Education Inc
Publication date : Oct. 28 2025
Language : English
Print length : 228 pages
ISBN-10 : 1834210127
ISBN-13 : 978-1834210124