By Martin West
Expected Shipping Date: June 5, 2025
“Anyone who wanted to be anybody in Vancouver had a pool by the summer of ’83.” Thus sets the scene for Pools, a novel that delves into themes of excess through the lens of the 1980s party culture.
At the close of an evening of cocktails and cocaine, sexual escapades, and ribald discourse, an unknown guest is found dead at the bottom of the hot tub. No one seems to know who the red-haired woman is, or how she ended up at the party. A few snippets of hazy memory provide the only details of her identity. Beyond that, she is a mystery.
Denis, the protagonist, grapples with his estranged relationship with his wife, Julie, who is in LA, while interacting with a colourful cast of characters, including various acquaintances and partygoers. Drug use, sexual experimentation, and social dynamics play key roles throughout the novel, reflecting the hedonistic yet empty lifestyle of many of the characters.
As the plot unfolds, Denis faces moral dilemmas and confrontations that stem from the drowning incident and the subsequent reactions of those involved. Loyalties are tested, and the implications of the characters’ actions are examined against the backdrop of a decaying social fabric.
Shot through with irony and black humour, Pools weaves a rich tapestry of human experience, illustrating the often tragicomic elements of this thing we call life.
Martin West was born in Victoria and spent his youth working and living in the Canadian west. His debut novel Long Ride Yellow won the 2018 ReLit Award for Fiction. He was previously a ReLit nominee in the short fiction category in 2016 for his collection Cretacea and Other Stories from the Badlands (recipient of a Gold IPPY award). The title story “Cretacea” was a finalist for the Journey Prize, and his story, “Miss Charlotte”, appeared in the 2017 edition of Best Canadian Stories. His second novel, The Father of Rain, was published in 2023. Martin currently lives in Calgary, Alberta.
