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The Canal House (Harvest Book) Paperback – July 5, 2004

4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 30 ratings

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Photojournalist Nicky Bettencourt thinks he's seen everything until he teams up with the legendary war correspondent Daniel McFarland. To Daniel, the story is everything; people come later. But after a plane crash nearly takes his life, Daniel begins to see the world in a different way. He falls in love with Julia Cadell, an idealistic British doctor, and together they find refuge at an old canal house in the center of London. Soon after, Nicky, Daniel, and Julia are called to East Timor, where the government has fled and the entire country is a war zone, and Daniel must decide whether to get the story of a lifetime or to see beyond the headlines to the people whose lives are in the balance.

Fast-paced and gorgeously written, The Canal House is a gripping novel of love, faith, and friendship set in the dangerous world of international wartime journalism.
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Editorial Reviews

Review

PRAISE FORTHE CANAL HOUSE
“A story presented in prose so fine it nearly sings, peopled by characters
who burn themselves into your mind and heart.”
—THE DENVER POST
“This touching, elegantly written tale aptly describes love and friendship
amid the terror of contemporary war.”
—THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS

From the Back Cover

"Ripe with authority... The perfect book group book." --Los Angeles Times

Photojournalist Nicky Bettencourt thinks he's seen everything until he teams up with the legendary war correspondent Daniel McFarland. But when Daniel falls in love with Julia Cadell, an idealistic British doctor, his determination wavers. When Nicky, Daniel and Julia are called to the war zone that is East Timor, Daniel must decide what is more important: the story of a lifetime or the people he loves.

"With a satisfying smack of authenticity, Lee is brilliant at capturing a whole culture in a paragraph." --
St. Louis Post-Dispatch

A
USA Today Summer Reading Selection

Mark Lee has covered international issues for various publications, including the
Atlantic Monthly, London Telegraph, and the Los Angeles Times. A vice president of PEN Center USA, he lives in California.


www.thecanalhouse.net

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Harper Paperbacks; First Edition (July 5, 2004)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 368 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0156029545
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0156029544
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 12 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.5 x 0.93 x 8.5 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 30 ratings

About the author

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Mark Lee
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Mark W. Lee is an American novelist, children's book writer, poet and playwright. He has worked as a war correspondent and some of these real-life experiences have appeared in his fiction. http://www.markwlee.com

Early life

Lee was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He attended Yale University where he became friends with the Pulitzer prize winning poet and novelist Robert Penn Warren. Lee dedicated his first novel to Warren.

After graduating from Yale in 1973, Lee lived in New York City for several years where he worked as a taxi driver, a language teacher and a security guard. His poetry and nonfiction appeared in the Atlantic Monthly, the Times Literary Supplement and a variety of literary journals.

Journalism

In the early 1980s, Lee traveled to East Africa where he worked as a foreign correspondent for Reuters and the Daily Telegraph. During the civil war that followed the fall of dictator Idi Amin, he was one of the few western journalists living in Uganda. Reporting on the poaching of elephants on the northern Ugandan border, Lee was almost killed by Sudanese soldiers.

After being expelled from Uganda for writing about military atrocities, Lee returned to the United States. He found that he could no longer write poetry and began writing plays and novels.

In 2000, Lee traveled to East Timor and wrote articles about the civil war for the Atlantic Monthly and the Los Angeles Times.

Novels

Mark Lee's first novel, The Lost Tribe, was published in 1998 by Picador USA. The book describes an epic journey of Africans and Americans looking for the contemporary descendants of the Lost Tribes of Israel. In a review of The Lost Tribe published in the Washington Post Book World, the critic wrote: "Without overwriting, Lee can convey the sprinting pace of a brush fire, the horror of an elephant slaughter, the hair-trigger tenseness of a military checkpoint."

Lee's second novel, The Canal House, was published by Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill in 2003. The critically praised novel is set in Africa, London and East Timor. It describes the dangerous world of war correspondents and aid workers. In the Denver Post, the reviewer of The Canal House wrote:"A story presented in prose so fine it nearly sings, peopled with characters who burn themselves into your mind and heart."

His work appears in Politically Inspired a collection of essays and short stories about the Iraq war published by MacAdam/Cage.In Publishers Weekly, the reviewer wrote:Lee's Memo to Our Journalists is a short, punchy list of editorial precautions to reporters in Iraq. It includes such pithy advice as: "If you and your embedded unit are lost in the countryside and searching for the main road, remember that every adult male in the world lies about most things much of the time. Look for a smart, honest nine-year-old."

Plays

His first play, California Dog Fight, was set at an illegal dog fight the Sacramento delta. It premiered at the Manhattan Theatre Club and went on to an award-winning production at the Bush Theatre in London.

Lee's next play, Rebel Armies Deep Into Chad, premiered at New Haven's Long Wharf Theatre. Rebel Armies is about the confrontation between two white journalists and two African prostitutes. It has been performed at many theatres throughout America.

Lee's play, Pirates (premiered at South Coast Repertory in Costa Mesa where it won the American Express California Playwrights competition.

An American Romance premiered at the Road Theatre in Los Angeles. It won 12 regional theatre awards.

Lee's play, Century City premiered at the WPA Theatre in New York.

The Private Room, Lee's controversial play set in the prison cells of Guantanamo Bay, premiered at the New End Theatre in London.

Children's books

Candlewick Press published Mark Lee's first children's book: Twenty Big Trucks in the Middle of the Street. The Wall Street Journal reviewer wrote: “As mystifying as it may be to their mothers and sisters, small boys tend to be entranced by powerful vehicles. The very fact of trucks—let alone their variety and different purposes—gives a thrill to certain 3- to 6-year-olds. For these children, Mark Lee's Twenty Big Trucks in the Middle of the Street will be handsome entertainment."

Since then, Lee has published four additional children's books: My Best Friend is a Goldfish, The Biggest Puddle in the World. What Kind of Car Does a T. Rex Drive? and Twenty Big Trucks in the Middle of Christmas.

Human rights work

Mark Lee has been deeply involved in freedom of speech and human rights activities for PEN, the international writers' organization. He established "Tibetan PEN in the Classroom" -- a program where exiled Tibetan writers teach students how write poetry and fiction.

Lee currently lives in New York City. He has two children.

Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars
30 global ratings

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Customers say

Customers enjoy the book's readability and narrative quality. They find it well-written and engaging, with a compelling story about four people who become involved with each other. The plot remains consistent throughout the book.

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4 customers mention "Readability"4 positive0 negative

Customers find the book readable and engaging. They describe it as well-written with a compelling narrative about four people.

"...Very well written, compelling narrative about four people who became involved with each other through war, redemption, love and betrayal...." Read more

"This is a wonderful book. I picked it up, meaning to leaf through a few pages and could not put it down...." Read more

"...It's a wonderful read and well worth the time!" Read more

"enjoyed the book and although it changed direction quite a few times the plot remained consistent and i really enjoyed the read." Read more

3 customers mention "Narrative quality"3 positive0 negative

Customers find the narrative engaging. They say the story is more than war and the plot remains consistent.

"...Very well written, compelling narrative about four people who became involved with each other through war, redemption, love and betrayal...." Read more

"I don't typically enjoy novels about war but this story is so much more than war...." Read more

"...book and although it changed direction quite a few times the plot remained consistent and i really enjoyed the read." Read more

Top reviews from the United States

  • Reviewed in the United States on January 15, 2013
    This novel was a surprise, as it was unexpectedly enthralling. I was so frightened that it would end badly, as I was getting so connected to two of the main characters. Very well written, compelling narrative about four people who became involved with each other through war, redemption, love and betrayal. I hope Mr. Lee hurries up and writes some more.
    One person found this helpful
    Report
  • Reviewed in the United States on December 6, 2016
    I do want to review.

    I hate this set up that does not allow me to leave this book with out reviewing
  • Reviewed in the United States on July 21, 2003
    This is a wonderful book. I picked it up, meaning to leaf through a few pages and could not put it down. Not only does the author tell a mesmerizing love story, the reader gets a behind-the-scenes look at what war correspondents actually go through. Do yourself a favor. Buy this book.
    4 people found this helpful
    Report
  • Reviewed in the United States on April 17, 2008
    Mark Lee has written a book that not only gives insight into a world most people never see, the world of releif camps and traveling journalists, but mostly his book is a poignant and memorable love story. I don't understand the few comments saying the readers lost interest in the story. I was glued to the book and finished it in a few days. The pacing is excellent, but the characters are written in enough depth so that the reader is privy to their insights about their adventures as well as their own lives. I particularly enjoyed the narrator, Nicky, who I thought was very convincing as a man who uses a camera to avoid getting emotionally involved with others. Mark Lee's book is one you'll remember for a long time. Two other friends have read the book, loved it and now we'll be using it for our book club. It's a sleeper. And what a great movie it would make!
  • Reviewed in the United States on May 25, 2007
    I don't typically enjoy novels about war but this story is so much more than war. I found the lives of the journalists, photographers and relief workers facinating! It's a wonderful read and well worth the time!
  • Reviewed in the United States on August 1, 2003
    I chose The Canal House by Mark Lee for the June book club selection for all my chapters of The Pulpwood Queens Book Clubs, the largest "meeting and discussing" in America, 13 chapters strong, nearly 300 members. Mostly because I had never read anything quite like this book before. Mark had opened up a world I will probably never experience and in such a way I felt that I was there in his war-torn world. We were lucky enough to have Mark come and visit all the chapters and the stories, oh the stories. In fact, when we did discuss the books the characters were discussed as if they were real people.
    I highly reccommend reading this book and note that this is one writer to watch. Mark is taking us as readers to places that we have never been before both physically and spiritually. I know The Pulpwood Queens Book Clubs have crowned him KING for the Day. May his books reign on our shelves forever!
    Tiara wearing and Book bearing,
    Kathy L. Patrick
    The Pulpwood Queen of East Texas and
    Hairdresser to the Authors...
    5 people found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on October 6, 2003
    For those seeking an adventure novel, you could do better to look elsewhere, something by James W. Hall perhaps. This is a book to sink into, not one to rush through with adrenaline pumping. Yes, there is adventure present as well as suspense, in this well crafted novel, as we travel to violent regions Africa and Indonesia. But what makes the book worthy of five stars, in my estimation, is a beautifully told story of two men and a woman whose lives intersect and become entangled. The pace is leisurely as the author creates wonderful word pictures of place, of encounters. The author draws us into the lives of these three characters and one finds oneself caring about what happens to each of them. I appreciate that the author takes us to Africa and East Timor, sharing with us the depredation of oppression and war, but it is his fine eye for detail and for the subtleties of character that entranced me and made the book difficult to put down. If you appreciate good writing, this is definitely a book worth seeking out.
    3 people found this helpful
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  • Amazon Customer
    Reviewed in the United States on August 21, 2003
    One of the early reviews for The Canal House said that it mixes "high stakes suspense" with "erotic intrigue"...."a gripping storyline" rich in detail. Well, I managed to get about half way through this novel, and I didn't feel there was much erotic intrigue or high stake suspense going on. I lost interest in The Canal House very quickly, and I think the reason is Lee's writing style. This book almost reads like a grade school term paper, and I'm not sure whether Lee meant this as a deliberate journalistic function, or it's just the way he happens to write. Either way, I found it far too tedious and simplistic for my taste.
    The subject matter and the story of foreign journalists in war torn zones should make for a really interesting and compelling story, and I found the parallel stories of Nicky and Julia to be sort of interesting - I was surprised to learn how much of the aid to the third world comes from bored rich western capitalists with a lot of time and money on their hands. But I just felt that Lee hasn't done a good enough job at really transporting us to places like Uganda, and creating a compelling and involving sense of immediacy. I also had a problem with the narrative form; telling a story through the shifting perspectives of different people has been done so often - Michael Cunningham did it in A Home at the End of the World - and so many other authors are currently doing it, that it's beginning to become tedious and unimaginative. I just don't think Lee is a subtle enough writer to carry this off, but maybe that's the point - war isn't subtle and he's trying to reflect this in his writing. Anyway, I was kind of disappointed with this book, but I do hope Lee continues to write and tell important stories, as I'm sure there is a market for his work.
    Michael
    2 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

  • ijhodgson
    5.0 out of 5 stars Thrilling and moving....
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 3, 2013
    WELL, just finished this excellent novel, and was pleasantly surprised with the author's insights into war, journalism, love, the morality of international aid, and manipulative capitalists. It's all here.

    Describing the experiences of Nicky, a photo-journalist, medic Julia Cadell, and journalist Daniel McFarland, we're taken to Italy, the UK, Uganda, and East Timor, in a story that is at times shocking, moving, thrilling, depressing, and - ultimately - hopeful. I won't give too much away here, but Lee handles the set pieces well, with a fluid, lucid writing style. The narrative shifts between the first-person perspectives of Julia and Nicky, and though I usually find this approach irritating (one view tends to dominate in other novels I've read with this structure), here Lee balances the text well, without being tempted into that post-modern abyss of the same thing seen different ways (see Lawrence Durrell).

    The story is also insightful about war and the chaos of war, and I recommend this book for not only the quality of the story, but also as a masterclass in managing tension, emotion, and jeopardy. The reader is not patronised, nor the pace of the narrative uneven. We really do want to see what happens at the end; but the journey is just as intriguing.