Visible Worlds

Marilyn Bowering

Harper Collins, May 29, 2012 - Fiction - 304 pages

Gerhard and Albrecht Storr are twins, though they share little in common beyond an eccentric upbringing. Raised by a father devoted to the powers of “Personal Magnetism” and a German-immigrant mother unhappy with life in Winnipeg and obsessed with the ghosts of her past, the two brothers grow further and further apart, eventually fighting on opposite sides of the Second World War.

Exhaustion is overwhelming Fika, a young Soviet woman crossing the Polar icecap bound for Canada. It’s midwinter 1960, and she’s lost her companions to a frosty death, can barely carry her own supplies, and must ski for another month to reach civilization.

How these two gripping tales on their separate sides of the globe unfold and come together is one of the many accomplishments of this extraordinary story. With Marilyn Bowering’s superb gift for storytelling, finely realized characters, and lyrical language, Visible Worlds resonates with the mystery and mysticism of the worlds we see and those we can only imagine.

About the author

Marilyn Bowering is an award-winning poet and playwright whose first novel, To All Appearances a Lady, was a New York Times Notable Book of 1990. She was born in Winnipeg and grew up in Victoria, British Columbia. She has lived and worked in the United States, Greece, Scotland Spain, and Canada and now makes her home in Sooke British Columbia. Visible Worlds was a finalist for the fourth annual Orange Prize in 1998. One of the most important literary awards in Great Britain, the Orange Prize is given each year to the best novel published there that is written by a woman.

Bibliographic information

• Title: Visible Worlds
• Author: Marilyn Bowering
• Publisher: Harper Collins, 2012
• ISBN: 1443410926, 9781443410922
• Length: 304 pages
• Subjects: Fiction / Literary