Shoebox by Sean Bedell
Reviewed by Ian Colford
Steve Lewis does nothing by half measures. A dedicated family man and devoted husband to Annie, Steve is also a paramedic who gives his all to every shift, to every call out, to every accident and medical emergency victim. He prides himself on his abilities as a first responder and the quality of care he provides. Indeed, his commitment to the job is such that, in his mind, his worth as a human being is inextricably linked to his ability to save lives. This is commendable, to a point. But Steve has taken this commitment a step further and has begun to perceive a failure of care as not just a professional failure, but a personal failure, even though his more rational self is perfectly capable of understanding (without necessarily accepting) that people die, unexpectedly and for any number of reasons, many of them beyond anyone’s control.
Sean Bedell’s tightly wound novel, Shoebox, draws on the author’s long career as a first responder, with the result that the drama depicted in these pages is vivid, sincere, and poignantly, achingly human.
Steve’s problems begin with money. Because he loathed the work, he quit a secure position as an insurance salesman and trained to become a paramedic, even though it meant leaving behind predictable hours and a salary that met many of the family’s needs. Now, with shift work and money pressures compelling him to volunteer for “extras,” Steve is absent from home for long stretches. With two school-age children and a baby, Annie needs him to pitch in. But working himself into a state of exhaustion means that even when he’s home, he’s hardly present. This provokes tension between the adults, which finds expression in Annie’s snarky comments and Steve’s seething silences.
Then the very worst happens, a family tragedy that hits Steve and Annie where it hurts the most. But was it preventable? Grief-stricken, Steve is certain that if he’d only been more attentive, more prepared, less selfish, more willing to sacrifice his own well-being for that of his family, it would never have happened. Seeking redemption, he returns to work. But the pressures continue to mount. Relentless calls from creditors, a looming strike, a fatal traffic collision with Steve at the wheel of the ambulance. The accumulation of grief and guilt sends Steve spiralling into an existential crisis.
Shoebox (the title refers explicitly to the tiny, cramped structure in Sheet Harbour where Steve’s paramedic team is stationed, but also seems a fitting metaphor for Steve’s own life) is the story of a man who takes everything upon his shoulders, who never gives himself a break, and who loses sight of what’s most important when his sense of self-worth begins to break down. Steve Lewis is an intense guy, an emotional powder-keg, who can become lost in the moment, whose responses to events are often extreme. Without a doubt, our hearts break for him when everything goes off the rails, though the reader can be forgiven for thinking that at times Steve is his own worst enemy.
Much like his previous novel, Somewhere There’s Music (which this writer described as a “searing gut-punch”), the emotions we encounter in Sean Bedell’s follow-up come to us raw, unfiltered. All of it is real and deeply felt. It can be hard to take, but Bedell’s artistry draws us in and, much like the proverbial train wreck, we can’t turn away.
About the Author
Author of the novel Somewhere There’s Music, Sean Paul Bedell has been writing and publishing for more than 30 years. A longtime paramedic and captain with the fire service, he lives with his wife Lisa in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia.
About the Reviewer
Ian Colford has published three novels and two collections of stories. Evidence was published in 2008 by Porcupine’s Quill and won the Margaret and John Savage First Book Award; Evidence was also shortlisted for the Danuta Gleed Literary Award, the Thomas Head Raddall Atlantic Fiction Award and the ReLit Award. The Crimes of Hector Tomás followed in 2012. Published by Freehand Books of Calgary, it won Trade Book of the Year at the 2013 Alberta Book Publishing Awards. Perfect World was published by Freehand in 2016 and shortlisted in the book design category at the 2017 Alberta Book Publishing Awards. In 2019 A Dark House was published by Nimbus Publishing of Halifax and was shortlisted for the Alistair MacLeod Prize in Short Fiction at the Atlantic Book Awards and the Relit Award. In 2022 The Confessions of Joseph Blanchard won the Guernica Prize and was published by Guernica Editions in November 2023. Witness, a sequel to Evidence, will be published in 2026 by Galleon Books of Moncton, NB. He lives in Halifax, Nova Scotia. More info can be found at www.iancolford.com.
Book Details
Publisher : Now Or Never Publishing Co
Publication date : Oct. 15 2025
Language : English
Print length : 264 pages
ISBN-10 : 1989689884
ISBN-13 : 978-1989689882