| Twenty-Six | |
| Author: | Leo McKay, Jr. |
| Country: | Canada |
| Language: | English |
| Genre: | Fiction |
| Publisher: | McClelland & Stewart |
| Release Date: | April 15, 2003 |
| Media Type: | Print (Hardcover & Paperback) |
| Pages: | 388 pp |
| Isbn: | 0-7710-5475-0 |
| Dewey: | 813/.54 22 |
| Congress: | PR9199.3.M42433 T88 2003 |
| Oclc: | 51086459 |
| Preceded By: | Like This |
Twenty-Six is the debut novel by author Leo McKay, Jr., released in 2003. The book was a national bestseller in Canada[1] and won the 2004 Dartmouth Book Award for Fiction.[2]
Set in the fictional town of Albion Mines, Nova Scotia, the novel takes place against the backdrop of a coal mine explosion that kills twenty-six miners, loosely based on the real-life Westray Mine explosion of 1992. Like the real-life incident, the novel's Eastyard mine disaster has themes of government corruption and the greed of the mine operator.
The story primarily revolves around the family of Ennis Burrows, a former union organizer, and his sons, Ziv - a college drop-out now working at the local Zellers - and Arvel, a miner who has followed in his father's footsteps. Their stories and those of other supporting characters unfold from the novel's beginning with the mine explosion, and working backward to show how the tragedy has fundamentally changed each of their lives.[3]
The novel received widespread acclaim from Canadian critics, and reached number 6 on MacLean's Magazine's best-sellers list less than a week after it was released.[4] Canadian author Robert J. Wiersema wrote in the Montreal Gazette that it was one of the year's best novels - and stated that "...if you are able to read just a single piece of Canadian fiction this spring, it should be Twenty-Six".[5] It was also awarded the 2004 Dartmouth book award for Fiction.[2]