It is autumn, 1997 and Kate Thuringer is back in her hometown to help
her college-age daughter settle into her new life. A professional
photographer, Kate has lived in Western Canada for nearly three decades.
Before her marriage, however, she survived a turbulent year in which
Québécois terrorists kidnapped a British diplomat and murdered an
innocent politician. The middle-aged Kate is obsessed with the past,
particularly with the memory of a poor francophone student with whom she
had been involved during the historic October Crisis. Back in Montreal,
she is plunged into a mid-life crisis, struggling to reconcile her
romantic past and her melancholy present. The House on Selkirk Avenue
is a complex novel about obsessive love, family bonds, aging, and the
impact of political events on innocent people's lives.