The Seaboard Review of Books, November 12, 2025
Volume 2, Issue 49 of The Seaboard Review of Books, November 12, 2025
In this issue:
Like Water for Weary Souls by Liisa Kovala (Fiction)
Excerpt: Mrs. Walford by Brenda Tyedmers (Fiction)
Cat Eaters, a Short Story by Zoë Sutton Harris
The Science of Pets by Jay Ingram (Non-Fiction)
Thanks for reading this issue of The Seaboard Review of Books!
James M. Fisher, editor-in-chief
Fiction
Like Water for Weary Souls by Liisa Kovala
Like Water for Weary Souls by Liisa Kovala is an historical mystery. The author conducted research into the history of Sudbury, where the novel is set, along with Finns in the Sudbury area, Finnish immigrant women in Canada, and “Karelian Fever,” a phenomenon affecting the Finnish community and resulting from the poverty caused by the Great Depression. …
Cat Eaters, a Short Story by Zoë Sutton Harris
Mist settled over the pond and the air felt damp after a morning of drizzling rain. Sitting on a log of the old burned out dam behind our house at Ketepec above the Saint John River, I shivered. I went there to be alone to escape the chaos that often erupted in our house of too many people under one roof.
Non-Fiction
The Science of Pets by Jay Ingram
In The Science of Pets, bestselling science writer and broadcaster Jay Ingram explores some age-old questions, and some new ones, about humans’ relationships with pets.
New, Old & Notable is a reoccurring column by Gordon Phinn in which he concisely reviews several books from the past and present.
Brief Notes on Books Present & Past
(Note: clicking on the underlined link takes you to the book’s publisher page or Amazon.ca for more information or for purchasing purposes. Support your local bookseller or independent publisher if you can.)
R. F. Kuang’s Katabasis
In classical mythology, katabasis is a descent into the underworld, like Orpheus and Euridice, Persephone, or Dante’s Inferno. In fact, these works are references to the magickal scholars in Katabasis. Alice Law believes she made a mistake that caused the death of her doctoral advisor Jacob Grimes and decides to make the journey to hell to recover his soul for the sake of her academic career. As she is preparing, Peter Murdoch, a fellow Grimes advisee and Alice’s academic rival, discovers what she’s doing and offers to go with her. Like Inanna’s journey into the underworld, Alice and Peter slowly have everything stripped away from them as they traverse the courts of hell. When all their secrets are laid bare, Alice must come to terms with what she really came to hell to do, and whether she really wants to do it anymore. (Contributed by Melanie Marttila)
A new chapbook from John Oughton and Nina West
Double Vision is John Oughton’s collaboration with Atlanta artist/writer Nina West. It’s a two-way collaboration between Nina and John, each of them contributing as both artists or photographers, and writers, reflecting on what they imagine in the process of viewing the other’s visual creations.
Copies can be ordered by contacting John (Canadian orders) or Nina West (US orders). John will share her email address if you message or email him. (joughton1[at]gmail.com)
The Seaboard Review of Books is proud to be a sponsor of The New Brunswick Book Awards!
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