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Returning to Ontario’s northern lakes as an adult to bury his father, Ray Carrier is taken back not only to a tangled romance in that green paradise but also to the forests and lonesome swamps that have haunted his dreams. As a teenager, Ray was enchanted by the grace and privilege of the Miller family on Providence Island, part of the wealthy resort community up the road from the farm where Ray and his widowed father spent their summers. Ray’s father had always said that he was too impressed by money. But it was more than that. There was Quentin Miller, a beautiful girl, older than Ray, who thought nothing of strolling to the end of a dock, stripping naked, and diving into the lake. But something happened near the abandoned railway tracks long ago something that shattered Ray’s illusions of love and money. And now something must be settled before Ray can achieve peace and let go of Providence Island and the Millers once and for all.
"Ray is driven to search for the font of his yearning, as hes being held back in life by a narrative that he must close out. We all seem to have those narratives, those back stories that add baggage, and wed all do well to deal with them, as has Ray. Confront it and walk away ... if you can."
"Providence Island by Gregor Robinson explores the early influences, often unacknowledged, that shapes the adults we become."
— Janet Armstrong
"Toronto writer Gregor Robinson channels F. Scott Fitzgerald in his second novel, Providence Island, an examination of family, secrets and class distinctions. The narrator, Ray Carrier, moves between two worlds that of the residents of Merrick Bay, a town servicing the wealthy summer residents of Ontario cottage country, and the extraordinary rich and complicated Miller family, which has its own island, that of the title. But Ray belongs in neither world, and Robinson makes it clear that crossing class lines is a recipe for heartache and tragedy."
"A stunning tour of class conflict in cottage country."
Gregor Robinson previously published a short story collection (The Dream King) and a novel (Hotel Paradiso) and has had plays produced at the Toronto Fringe in 2006 and 2009. He has been nominated for the Journey Prize three times and has had mystery stories nominated for the Edgar Allan Poe Award, the Arthur Ellis Award, and the National Magazine Award. He lives in Toronto.