The Dove in Bathurst Station
About the Book
Marta Elzinga has been searching for a sign. When she spots an elusive mink on the shoreline of the Toronto Island Airport, she thinks it is a message. The pigeon that boards the subway at Bathurst Station is the second sign. But how to read these dispatches?
Plagued with indecision and prone to magical thinking, Marta needs direction. A floundering guidance counsellor, she struggles to meet the needs of her students, as well as those of her charming but unstable husband. During a tour of historical buildings in Toronto, Marta visits an abandoned subway station and runs into a former student. He invites her to join him in some urban exploration. And so, in the late evenings, Marta comes to traverse the dangerous geography beneath the city’s streets. Through these journeys, Marta confronts the coils in her own thinking about providence, chance, and personal responsibility.
A complex and stirring novel, The Dove in Bathurst Station is about finding hope and reconciliation.
Reviews
“The book is meticulously researched, and Westerhof’s love of place shines through in the wealth of detail.” —Publishers Weekly
“Westerhof has a poet’s eye for the meaning beneath the surface of things. A lyrical exploration of one woman’s overdue emotional awakening.” —Katrina Onstad, author of Everybody Has Everything
“A curious portrait, rebellious and spiritual, of a soul’s healing: it touched me with its sense of possibility.” —Kathleen Winter, author of Annabel
“The Dove in Bathurst Station is an important book in Toronto’s voluminous archive of literature. It explores spirituality, the urban landscape, and the human ability to help others in a thoroughly satisfying manner.” —The Goose