The Instructor

The moment 19-year-old Simone Paris walks into Otto Guest's art class, she knows that she must have him. Old enough to be her father, Otto is everything her ascetic, willfully out-of-touch parents are not: worldly, sensual, gregarious, at ease with modernism, a risk-taker. In short, an artist. She sets out to seduce him - and succeeds. He will be her mentor, her lever into the larger world beyond the sedate boundaries of home. When he invites her to travel in Mexico with him, she readily agrees. Soon she finds herself in an unfamiliar world of heat and grit, immersed in an intensely erotic relationship, thirsty for all that Otto can teach her, yet struggling to maintain her claim on his emotional life. As they stalk, dodge, and confront one another within the confines of a tiny Mexican village - one reaching toward the future, the other grappling with the past - Otto begins to teach Simone lessons she never wanted to learn: that love is not the force that drives every affair, and that knowing theories about art is not the same as understanding how to live. Winner of the 1985 Seal Books First Novel Award and of the Books in Canada First Novel Award To Mrs. Hopper, Yoshi Takahashi may be just another name from her daughters'past, but for Jean and her sister, Colette, he stands for much more. Years ago, Mr. Takahashi moved into their Toronto neighbourhood and sent the adolescent lives of Jean and Colette into a tailspin. They weren't content merely to befriend the Japanese pianist - in their infatuation they sought to mirror his life as closely as possible. The enchantment lingers into adult life in ways both sisters are reluctant to recognize. This weekend they have been invited to an extravagant family celebration in Victoria, B.C. As the party gains momentum, so does the tension between the sisters. As before, the larger-than-life Mr. Takahashi casts his spell. Originally published in 1985, A Certain Mr. Takahashi won the coveted Seal First Novel Award and the Books in Canada/W.H. Smith First Novel Award. Winner of the 1985 Seal Books First Novel Award and of the Books in Canada First Novel Award To Mrs. Hopper, Yoshi Takahashi may be just another name from her daughters past, but for Jean and her sister, Colette, he stands for much more. Years ago, Mr. Takahashi moved into their Toronto neighbourhood and sent the adolescent lives of Jean and Colette into a tailspin. They werent content merely to befriend the Japanese pianist - in their infatuation they sought to mirror his life as closely as possible. The enchantment lingers into adult life in ways both sisters are reluctant to recognize. This weekend they have been invited to an extravagant family celebration in Victoria, B.C. As the party gains momentum, so does the tension between the sisters. As before, the larger-than-life Mr. Takahashi casts his spell. Originally published in 1985, A Certain Mr. Takahashi won the coveted Seal First Novel Award and the Books in Canada/W.H. Smith First Novel Award. Short-listed for the 2002 Governor General's Literary Award for Fiction and the 2002 Roger Writers'Trust Fiction Prize Rescued from the dangers he faces in a Latin American military dictatorship, writer Carlos Romero Estevez is given a new life in Vancouver. His rescuers, a benevolent group devoted to aiding oppressed writers, believe they've found a poster-boy. Carlos thinks he's found a new life, new freedom, and new, powerful friends. But soon everyone's illusions are dispelled, and Carlos finds life in exile to be a new kind of prison.Now available in trade paperback format for the first time, Exile is the work of an author in full control of her considerable talents. Award-winning author Ann Ireland is the author of two previous novels: A Certain Mr. Takahashi (1985 - now available from The Dundurn Group), and The Instructor (1996). She teaches at Ryerson University, and is a past-president of PEN Canada. "For Carlos Romero Estevez, freedom from danger means a life in exile. Rescued from his home in a Latin American military dictatorship - where his writings have been banned and he is wanted by the state - the poet and journalist is brought to a new home in Vancouver. His rescuers, a group devoted to helping oppressed writers, think they've found a hero, a poster boy. Carlos thinks he's found a new life, new freedom, and new, powerful friends.". "But soon everyone's illusions are dispelled, and Carlos finds life in exile to be a new kind of prison. His arranged job as a writer-in-residence at the university fails to produce the expected best-selling memoir. And Carlos begins to realize that his powerful new friends are simply unable to give him the kind of life he knew before his imprisonment, when he associated with the elite writers of his nation - as well as notorious revolutionaries."--BOOK JACKET.

To Mrs. Hopper, Yoshi Takahashi may be just another name from her daughters' past, but for Jean and her sister, Colette, he stands for much more. Years ago, Mr. Takahashi moved into their Toronto neighbourhood and sent the adolescent lives of Jean and Colette into a tailspin. They weren't content merely to befriend the Japanese pianist - in their infatuation they sought to mirror his life as closely as possible.

The enchantment lingers into adult life in ways both sisters are reluctant to recognize. This weekend they have been invited to an extravagant family celebration in Victoria, B.C. As the party gains momentum, so does the tension between the sisters. As before, the larger-than-life Mr. Takahashi casts his spell.

Originally published in 1985, A Certain Mr. Takahashi won the coveted Seal First Novel Award and the Books in Canada/W.H. Smith First Novel Award.

At the International Classical Guitar Competition in Montreal, top-flight musicians fly in from all over the world to compete in a gruelling week. A career can be made or lost here, and the slightest mishap - a lapse of memory, a shaking right hand, a broken fingernail - can ruin years of preparation. More than a decade ago Toby made the finals in a similar competition but suffered a breakdown and is only now venturing back into the fray. Middle-aged Lucy is tired of playing bar mitzvahs and weddings and is determined to perform the recital of her life. Trace is a kayaking teenager from the West Coast who seems careless in her talent. Judges and contestants alike battle and scheme to achieve what they most desire here. There is much more than pretty music being performed on this stage. Nerves crunch at the international classical guitar competition in Montreal where musicians fly in from all over the world to compete in a gruelling week. A career can be made or lost, and the slightest mishap - a lapse of memory, a shaking right hand - can ruin years of preparation. There is more than pretty music being performed on this stage. Nerves crunch at the international classical guitar competition in Montreal where musicians from all over the world fly in to compete. A career can be made or lost, and the slightest mishap - a lapse of memory, a shaking right hand - can ruin years of preparation. There is more than pretty music being performed on this stage. Cover; The Blue Guitar; Copyright; Acknowledgements; Prologue; One; Two; Three; Four; Five; Six; Seven; Eight; Nine; Ten; Eleven; Twelve; Thirteen; Fourteen; Fifteen; Sixteen; Seventeen; Eighteen; Nineteen; Twenty; Twenty-One; Twenty-Two; Twenty-Three; Twenty-Four; Twenty-Five; Twenty-Six; ALSO BY ANN IRELAND. Originally published in 1985, A Certain Mr. Takahashi won the coveted Seal First Novel Award and the Books in Canada / W.H. Smith First Novel Award.