Leonard Fife

Leonard “Leo” Fife is the novel’s protagonist. In the frame narrative, he is in his late seventies and is dying of cancer. He is known as a famous documentary filmmaker in Canada, although he was born in the United States. As he nears his death, he becomes gripped by the desire to recount his life, much of which he has kept hidden from people. In the late 1960s, he fled from the United States to Canada, and he always told people that he did so to escape the military draft during the Vietnam War. However, he now wishes to tell the truth of his pre-Canada life. His main intended audience is his wife Emma, to whom he feels like he owes the truth. He also wants her to know and love the whole of him before he dies.

Fife was born and raised in a small...