"I loved it. It was hard to read at times because it made me feel sad, eh. But is also made me lol (laugh out loud, for you old folk). It felt very real to me; and I know a lot of it is. But that’s good. Because you created something that made me feel a lot of different emotions, and it also reconnected me with a place where I spent many of the happiest days of my life. Charlie England and I have a lot in common. I’m glad he eventually found his way back home. Bravo!"
– Charles Ford
"Can’t hold Uncle Lloyd down for long! Tough that Charlie had his football career cut short by a crack back block. He could’ve been a good one!
Wrestling Hall of Famer John Irving used to be a favourite of mine, but I couldn’t get past those capitals in A Prayer for Owen Meany. I hope that we’ll have the opportunity to read more from you on The Townships. Keep up the GREAT work!"
– Michael Wolf
"This is really just a simple note in which I join countless others to say how much I enjoyed your book. I laughed a lot, but it also touched me deeply as I have very fond memories of the townships and French-English relationships in Quebec (except that most of my rural experience was in the Gaspé where we went every summer for years and where the fascinating characters were either Québecois fishermen or Jersey Islanders, plus one Irishman, Gratton O'Leary). You have a wonderful gift, and I am grateful for the opportunity to benefit from it in such an enjoyable fashion. Thanks for a wonderful read and keep up the great work!"
– Ross Paul
"I have recently read your book of stories, so kindly sent to Tom Riglar, my partner in crime, and sat right up while reading "Arty and his Flyers", with Arty's remote-controlled airplane going out of control and landing in Sandy Martin's tuba case in the music tent at the fair. "
– Naomi Hanson
"I spotted your "Linebound" at the Pettes Memorial Library here in Knowlton. As a multigeneration Anglo Eastern Township resident, I thought the book might be of interest. One other common thread was that I was also a sole practitioner here (numbers, not law) for a number of years. I was not disappointed! You did a great job of examining both sides of the coin, and at the same time managed to work out an interesting story. I hope that you are encouraged to write a sequel. I suspect that you are familiar with John Grisham's Ford County series. A Peter Turner Derby County series would become required reading for me. "
– Peter Giddings
"Enjoyed your book. Thanks for it. As a Quebec emigrant, the substance pulled at me. That aside, I am left wishing for a 4th quarter “comeback” by Charlie. As a former small town GP I have been thoroughly imprinted by the intersection of births with burials. Gives one perspective, I hope. I will be cheering for Charlie. We share universal failings."
– Dr Bruce Bristowe
"I finished Linebound on vacation. You are rapidly getting pretty good at writing. You were brutal, but it was a great read! I like your double Linebound – US/Canada and English/French. "
– John Eakes
"Your book touches so many in such different ways. "
– Gordon Glass
"You write very well and I was greatly entertained with the storied lives of the characters, though they are far removed from my growing up or indeed adult realty! Still, I did enjoy your technicolour imagery – and language, come to that."
– Tom Matthews
"I am thoroughly enjoying your book. Your stories and observations stay with me even after I put it down to deal with some dreary mundane task.
This is well done on so many levels. Please write more. I could go on and on but for now, I need to get back to reading this one."
– Mary HughsonMary Hughson is a Montreal painter who sometimes signs her works under the name of Gigot.
“I seldom recommend self-published books but Peter Turner’s novel Linebound is a must. It tells two stories in parallel - the anguish of the English community in the Townships as it gives way to the growing French presence alongside the struggling marriage Charlie, of a young Anglo lawyer, and Luce his francophone life partner. I could not put it down.”
– Richard KingTaken from a review on Home Run, CBC Montreal 88.5FM. Author, broadcaster and former co-owner Paragraph Books
“Tu as su capter merveilleusement bien, et avec humour, les drames et les joies de ces fiers descendants de loyalistes et de ces nouveaux arrivants qui viennent brasser quelque peu la sauce. L’énergie de Charlie est centrale et tes descriptions de ses déchirements sont tout à fait saisissantes. L’action est étonnante, les conflits culturels et personnels parfaitement décrits.”
– Robert Alain
“You are an excellent and observant writer, and I enjoyed it very much. I hope you plan another novel.”
– Peter G WhitePeter G. White is a Canadian businessman who hails from Knowlton and who worked alongside Conrad Black, and was a former principal secretary to Brian Mulroney.
“I feel like you’ve given us a kind of verbal rubiks cube – an amazingly intricate. wonderfully simple account of exactly how we are – informed by patterns from the gods. Plus, the heartbeat of the book pulses with the confidence that as we twist and turn through our lives (and the chapters) the answer we need is always right there in our hands And that says nothing about the greater wonder of how you got to be able to give us this wonder.”
– Colin Starnes (Luneburg NS)
“A great read.”
– Bruce Stevenson (North Hatley)
“I’m almost through Linebound and am loving it. Well done you. It’s a brilliant book. I’m sure you must have sweat blood birthing it. I’m awfully glad you didn’t give up.”
– Jane MacTavish (Ottawa)
“A great read ..but also a deep sensitivity that affects us all. At the end I just wanted to give Charlie a big hug.”
– Roger De La Mare
“A super book.. Buy this book. If you don’t like it, Peter will compensate you in a way to be negotiated.”
– John Aylen
“Globalement, je le répète, ton livre est excellent. Très bonne présentation de la dualité québécoise. Tu as une aptitude exceptionnelle à observer les gens et les lieux, à les décrire, à les faire vivre et à traduire leurs émotions avec beaucoup de sensibilité. Très beau chapitre 16!”
– Jacques Meunier
“.. ribald, hilarious, and perceptive. A must-read for anyone interested in understanding the “Two Solitudes” of Quebec.”
– Jefferson LewisJefferson Lewis is the author of "Something Hidden: A Biography of Wilder Penfield" and the bilingual screenwriter behind numerous movies including "French Immersion," "Les noçes de papier" ("Paper Wedding") "Mon amie Max" and "Emotional Arithmetic."
"A funny, nostalgic, poignant ride through a special part of our (disappearing) world. You are to be congratulated and smacked heartily for Linebound. Thanks."
– Alan Gratias (Prince Edward County, Ont.)
“Cher Peter,
Je viens de terminer Linebound et je suis profondément remuée. J’ai été captivée par le portrait sensible et profond que tu dresses de nos Cantons de l’Est, par la galerie de personnages truculents et la coexistence des univers culturels dont l’un semble émerger et l’autre décliner. Tout au long, j’ai été touchée par l’attachant et imparfait personnage de Charlie England, balloté entre deux pôles. Ses amours déchirées, ses poignants conflits de loyauté. Avec une apparente légèreté, tu nous fais plonger avec lui dans une véritable tragédie dont il est impossible de sortir indemne. C’est un magnifique roman.”
– Danielle DansereauGagnante de 3 prix Gémeaux, Danielle Dansereau est une scénariste connue entre autres pour Le négociateur, 19-2, Doute Raisonnable et L’affaire Dumont.
“A pleasure to read. It’s a lot of things, the characters are great…and hard to beat as an insider’s portrait of Anglo-Franglo life in the southern townships, and of a traditional way of life that’s struggling to survive. Some of it rang bells on account of our own family links to Lacolle and the southwestern counties, not so far away and not so different.”
– Alan Willis (Ottawa)
“Cette excellente saga éclaire et ouvre des portes. A lire.”
– Robert ToupinRobert Toupin is a full-time resident of his beloved Sutton. He’s been a well-established bilingual stage, television and movie actor for more than fifty years.
“You’ve really captured the Anglo frustration, desperation, the joy, pride and confusion we’ve all lived with or witnessed while making a life in this beautiful part of the world. Through Bill’s working in medical politics, I was privileged to meet many warm and caring Francophone doctors and their partners from all areas of Quebec. It was a priceless education, expanding my love of the people history and language of the province I adopted when l departed Nova Scotia.”
– Jane Barakett (Knowlton)
“I really had a hard time putting it down and enjoyed reading it. It brought back many old memories – especially as Suzanne (my wife) who is a Francophone from Quebec City. Now we are living in Vermont and you hit it right on regarding the French/English and now U.S. family issues.”
– Steve Selby (Vermont)
“À la fois hilarant et profond — dramatique même —, le livre de Peter Turner est le livre d’un écrivain authentique. Il met en scène une foule de personnages pittoresques, et la truculence de l’écriture est parfois rabelaisienne. Rien de moins. À travers anecdotes, aventures et situations improbables, Linebound est une méditation sur la condition de l’Anglais dans des Cantons-de-l’Est qu’il ne reconnaît plus comme étant sa patrie. Un livre à lire absolument pour quiconque s’interroge sur les Deux Solitudes — ou pour quiconque a envie de lire un roman formidable, écrit de main de maître.”
– Michel Rudel-Tessier
“I very much enjoyed Linebound. The characters and the whole story felt very real and so much of it felt familiar. It provided a unique view on the contrasts and challenges between cultures and classes, with a real touch of humanity that was bittersweet and sad in places, while outrageous, hilariously funny and ribald in many other. I laughed aloud on a quite a few occasions.”
– Charles Crawford
