Thomas: A Secret Life

A.J.B. Johnston

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ISBN: 9781897009741

Thomas: A Secret Life

  Author:   A.J.B. Johnston    
  Publisher:  Cape Breton University Press

Set in early-18th-century France, Thomas: A Secret Life is the imagined life of Thomas Pichon. We first meet Thomas as a twelve-year old in the small town of Vire, Normandy. Precociously sensuous by nature, Thomas is inclined to poetry and religious/erotic imaginings. A series of adolescent adventures provide striking background to his character. Rejecting parental insistence that he become a priest, Thomas steals away to Paris in the middle of the night. There, nearly broke, Thomas works as a lowly office clerk, joins the ranks of aspiring French writers and makes extra money serving as a part-time spy for the police of Paris. But his careers advance too slowly for his liking, and he finds himself taking regular comfort and release in prostitutes’ stalls. A rendezvous with a high-class courtesan brings a new possibility and Thomas plots a future in which he can have his cake and eat it too. Writer, lover, spy: Life is nowhere near as good or as easy as Thomas Pichon imagined it would be.

Details and Specs
ISBN associated with this title: 9781897009741
Item CB0094
PublisherCape Breton University Press
PublisherCape Breton University Press
Published on August 1 2012
Language eng
Pages 288
Format Paperback
Dimensions8.5(in) x 5.5(in)
Shipping weight390(g)
Status ACTIVE TITLE
A. J. B. (John) Johnston is the author or co-author of twenty-one books: sixteen on different aspects of the history of Atlantic Canada and five novels. The Canadian Historical Association awarded a Clio prize to his Endgame 1758: The Promise, the Glory and the Despair of Louisbourg's Last Decade, and Ni'n na L'nu: The Mi'kmaq of Prince Edward Island was selected in 2014 as the best published Atlantic book. John was made a chevalier of France's Ordre des Palmes académiques in recognition of his many publications on the French presence in Atlantic Canada. He lives in Halifax with his wife Mary. For more information, please visit ajbjohnston.com.