Reading order
| # | Title | Published | Author | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | If I Fall, If I Die | 2015 | Michael Christie | Buy |
| 2 | Greenwood | 2019 | Michael Christie | Buy |
Michael Christie’s two standalone novels show a writer drawn to large ideas explored through personal stories. If I Fall, If I Die (2015) follows a boy named Will whose mother’s severe agoraphobia has kept him inside their house for his entire young life. When he finally ventures outside, the world proves both more exciting and more dangerous than he expected. Christie has said the novel draws on his own childhood experience with a parent’s anxiety.
Greenwood (2019) is an ambitious multi-generational story built around a grove of ancient trees on an island off British Columbia. The narrative jumps between time periods, connecting a Depression-era timber baron, a modern-day tree planter, and a near-future arborist working on what may be the last forest in a climate-changed world. The novel earned a Giller Prize shortlist nomination and established Christie as a significant voice in Canadian fiction.