Finnie Walsh
Steven Galloway
Paperback
(Raincoast Book Dist Ltd, Feb. 1, 2001)
Finnie Walsh is Paul Woodward's best friend, a hockey fanatic and the only good kid in a long line of delinquent brothers tainted by the rich stink of local wealth-the Walshes own everything in Portsmouth. While the boys prepare for their first season in the Woodward driveway, Paul's father-sleepless due to the volume of their play-stumbles to his nightshift at the mill. Triggering a chain of fatigue-related events that result in arm amputation, early retirement, a National Geographic obsession, the birth of Sarah, a clairvoyant younger sister, the NHL draft, and other life-altering moments, Paul turns to his older sister, Louise, for forgiveness and unlikely advice. Galloway proves that childhood innocence, while not exactly bliss can be endlessly amusing & more than mildly instructional.