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NATIONAL BESTSELLER • From the bestselling, Giller Prize-winning author of Bloodletting & Miraculous Cures comes an exquisitely crafted novel, piercing in its urgency and breathtaking in its intimacy.
“One of Canada’s greatest writers. . . . On the Ravine is Vincent Lam’s third and best [book].” —Toronto Star
“[Lam’s] nuanced understanding, insight, and compassion for people caught in the coils of addiction I have long appreciated. As a fellow writer, I can only admire his creative imagination and literary flair.” —Gabor Maté, MD, bestselling author of In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts: Close Encounters with Addiction
Dr. Chen, a downtown Toronto addictions doctor, is on the devastating front line of the opioid crisis. Grappling with ever-more desperate cases that arrive in his waiting room, he walks a tightrope between the human desires of his patients and the scientific doctrines of his profession. Chen is haunted by a photo gallery of patients he has lost to overdose. He asks: What if he had done more, or less? Or something different? Would his patients still be alive?
Claire, a passionate and highly accomplished violinist, suffers two overdoses in twenty-four hours, leading her to Chen's clinic. She is convinced that her most beautiful music is played when she is high on opioids, but has realized that her survival depends upon being sober. Their worlds collide, drawing Chen deeper into the intricate web of the doctor-patient relationship: the implications and consequences of his intention to treat. Chen must decide just how far he would go to save a life. Can he find choices that make a difference, and can he help his patients to do the same?
Combining the depth of his experience as a physician with the brilliance of his literary talent, Vincent Lam creates a world electric in its precision, radiant in its detail. On the Ravine is a gripping novel of profound emotional force, a soaring achievement from a singular voice in Canadian fiction.
