Amy Jones is now a bestselling author.
The local writer’s debut novel, We’re All in This Together, hit store shelves in June and quickly found itself on the Globe and Mail’s Canadian fiction bestsellers list at No. 5.
“It’s amazing to know that people are responding so well to the book,” Jones said.
“People are getting out there, reading it and telling people about it – that really means a lot to me. When you write a book you write it for the reader so to know that readers are responding to it is just really exciting for me.”
We’re All in This Together tells the story of a dysfunctional Thunder Bay family who watch in horror as their mother plummets over Kakabeka falls in a barrel. Miraculously she survives, but falls into a deep coma.
Video of the event goes viral as the Parker family is forced to come together and figure out what drove their mother over the edge.
The novel is told from multiple points of view of each family member, everyone gets there say as to what’s going on.
“I was always really interested in how two different people, especially within families, can look at the same scenario and have the same memory but it’s completely different,” she said.
“There’s times when you have different scenes that play out from the eyes of the different characters and how differently they see it.”
Jones added she hopes people can read the book and understand that even in the darkest of situations you can find humour.
We’re in This Together is locally inspired. Jones, who became a Thunder Bay resident six years ago, said much of the story is borne from the people and stories she has overheard in the city.
“I was inspired by the unique vibe that the city had so I decided it would be the perfect place to set my novel.”
The critics agree. Positive reviews have appeared in the Toronto Star, Globe and Mail and Now Magazine among a handful of other major publications.
The national attention is exactly what Jones was hoping for the. The author says she wanted her book to inspire people outside of Thunder Bay and provide those readers with an understanding of what an interesting and dynamic place the city can be.
“People sort of picture Thunder Bay kind of like a cultural wasteland, and I hope the book makes people think twice about their misconceptions about Thunder Bay.”
We’re all in This Together will also be taking part in a new community initiative at the Thunder Bay Public Library.
Officials with the public library announced a new program called One Book: One Community at a media event at the Waverly branch last week. It’s designed to encourage reading and literacy among adults.
The library selected Jones’ book as the inaugural title for members to read.
