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Charles Foran Books In Order

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Publication Order of Extraordinary Canadians Books

Lord Beaverbrook (By: David Adams Richards) (2008)Description / Buy at Amazon
Mordecai Richler (By: M.G. Vassanji) (2008)Description / Buy at Amazon
Pierre Elliott Trudeau (By: Nino Ricci) (2009)Description / Buy at Amazon
Stephen Leacock (By: Margaret MacMillan) (2009)Description / Buy at Amazon
L.M. Montgomery (By: Jane Urquhart) (2009)Description / Buy at Amazon
René Lévesque (By: Daniel Poliquin) (2009)Description / Buy at Amazon
Marshall McLuhan (By: Douglas Coupland) (2010)Description / Buy at Amazon
Louis Riel and Gabriel Dumont (By: Joseph Boyden) (2010)Description / Buy at Amazon
Maurice Richard (2011)Description / Buy at Amazon
Tommy Douglas (By: Vincent Lam) (2011)Description / Buy at Amazon

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Kitchen Music (1994)Description / Buy at Amazon
House on Fire (2001)Description / Buy at Amazon
Carolan's Farewell (2005)Description / Buy at Amazon
Planet Lolita (2014)Description / Buy at Amazon

Publication Order of Non-Fiction Books

Sketches in Winter (1993)Description / Buy at Amazon
The Last House of Ulster (1995)Description / Buy at Amazon
The Story of My Life (1998)Description / Buy at Amazon
Join the Revolution, Comrade (2008)Description / Buy at Amazon
Mordecai (2010)Description / Buy at Amazon
Butterfly Lovers (2012)Description / Buy at Amazon

Charles Foran is a an award winning author and journalist from Canada. He is known to have written eleven successful books in his career, including the very popular Carolan’s Farewell, Mordecai: The Life and Times, House on Fire, etc. Author Foran was born as Charles William Foran in 1960 in Toronto, Canada. Foran holds degrees from the University College, Dublin and the Toronto University. He has taught in Canada, China, and Hong Kong. Five of the 11 books published by him are novels. With his nonfiction, journalism, and fiction work, author Foran has won several prestigious awards such as the Weston Prize, QSPELL prizes, a Jewish Book Award, the Taylor Prize, the Governor General Literary Award, and a few awards from National Magazine. Other than writing books, author Foran has been involved in making radio documentaries for a CBC program called Ideas. He has also co-written the award-winning television documentary called Mordecai Richler.

Foran is a former PEN Canada president. He has a Massey College fellowship. Foran has remained an adjunct English professor at the Toronto University for many years. In 2014, Foran was named to the ‘Order of Canada’. Author Foran also works at the Institute for the Canadian Citizenship as its CEO. As of today, Foran resides in Toronto along with his family. As a child, Foran completed his schooling from the Brebeuf College School. Then he joined the St Michael’s College at the University of Toronto for studying history and English literature. Following this, Foran stayed in Dublin for two years and obtained his Master’s degree in the Irish Literature. Foran entered into marriage soon after and resided in New York City for some time along with his wife. When Foran got a job offer to teach in China, he shifted to Beijing in 1988. During his stay, he witnessed the democracy movement of China in 1989. By this time, Foran had already started giving words to his thoughts. An annual book that was involved in highlighting upcoming writers, called Coming Attractions, published a few of the earlier stories of author Foran in 1987. His 1992 short-story called Boy Under Water was selected to feature in the Best Candadian Stories. Foran went on to publish his first full length novel, Kitchen Music, in 1994. It was set in Canada, Vietnam, and Ireland, and was shortlisted for WH Smith First Novel Award.

After the wide scale release and success of his debut novel, Foran lived in Montreal for some time, working as Saturday Night’s contributing editor. He even served as a books columnist for Montreal Gazette. In 1995, Foran relocated to Ontario with his family and published his second book. From then onwards, Foran continued to write and publish from his birth country. His books managed to travel to multiple countries and were translated extensively. His popularity kept on rising with each published book. From 2008 onwards, Foran started contributing to literary and travel journalism. A travel & literary essay collection written by him was released by Biblioasis in the same year. At around the same time, Foran teamed up with Alfred Knoph Canada for writing Mordecai Richler’s biography. He was assisted by the Richler family, who gave important inputs about the life of Mordecai. The biography was released in 2010 and featured in many bestsellers’ list. Currently, Foran is enjoying his writing and teaching careers. He hopes to continue working as long as his body permits and keep entertaining the readers throughout the globe. The literary papers penned by Foran are housed in Trent University’s Bata Library.

The debut book written author Charles Foran is entitled ‘Kitchen Music’. It was released in 1994 by the Cormorant Books. The story is set in Toronto, Ireland, and Vietnam, and features the main characters as Pat Keane, Hia Thi Loi, and a few others. At the book’s start, it is shown that a couple from Toronto visits Ireland for a long holiday. They arrive in a remote village, where people are mainly involved in fishing. A local man, who died a tragic death, was very famous for his music and his death is still talked about in the community. Pat Keane is that man’s Canadian son. He has come to the village to know more about his father through his music, and also discover himself through the inherited music. Hia Thi Loi is the lover of Pat Keane. She is the daughter of a Vietnamese woman. Both Loi and Pat have obsessions to know about their parents, but each of them is initially reluctant. Hia Thi Loi looks to seek forgiveness and wholeness through the sketches of the ruined temples of Cambodia. The plot is mainly set in an Irish village. The narrative keeps moving between the present time and the 1950s. Foran has described the dilemmas inherited by individuals when they decide to shift their worlds. As per his description, the novel is seen exciting in two different worlds and showcasing the perspectives of the new and old. This novel talks more about love’s force and is about the renewal in times of tragedy.

Another exciting novel of Foran’s career is called ‘Planet Lolita’. This novel was published in 2014 by the HarperCollins publication. In this novel, Foran has mentioned the story of a girl who comes across a chance encounter and everything changes in her life forever. The novel takes place in Hong Kong and depicts the central characters as Xixi or Sarah, Jacob, Leah, Rachel, Mary, etc. At the novel’s beginning, a married couple and their teenage daughter are shown camping on a remote beach in Hong Kong. There is no one around except the three of them. The next morning they wake up to a strange sight. They see that a dozen ladies had arrived on the beach out of nowhere. It seems that the women have been washed into the shore by the sea waves.

Sarah, also called as Xixi by her parents, tries to befriend the women. She even takes a picture of one of the women in her cell phone and calls her Mary. As they spend more time together, Sarah begins to feel that she is somehow connected to Mary. When she posts Mary’ picture on Facebook, an unexpected online narrative triggers that Sarah is unable to control or comprehend. Meanwhile, Sarah’s parents, Leah and Jacob, are going through a falling marriage and at the same time dealing with the loss of their elder daughter named Rachel. As an epidemic begins in Hong Kong, the whole city gets gripped in paranoia and fear. Sarah becomes desperate to help Mary come out of her doomed circumstances. Sarah shows the determination of being brave and takes the necessary course of action to save Mary.

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