Words At Large

Award-winning actor R.H. Thompson narrates this Between the Covers reading of Matt Cohen’s novel. Last Seen (Vintage) is a darkly comic portrait of a man who despairs after his brother dies — and of the curious woman who tries to bring them both back to life.

The novel is based on the death of Cohen’s younger brother in 1992 and shows his deft touch at treating life's difficult moments with a lightness and celebration, while still honouring their significance.

Diagnosed with lung cancer in 1998, just six years after his brother’s death, Matt Cohen kept on writing and in the fall of 1999 won the prestigious Governor General's Award for his novel Elizabeth and After (Vintage). Two weeks after that he succumbed to the disease.

Cohen authored more than 20 books in his career including an internationally acclaimed mystery called The Bookseller (Vintage) plus a number of books for children (under the pseudonym Teddy Jam) and works of translation from French to English.

In Last Seen grief is transformed to magic as two brothers reach across the line between life and death to celebrate love.

Each episode of Between the Covers is 15 to 16 minutes.

Episode one: In which we meet Harold, whose wry humour survives even a serious illness.

Episode two: Alec remembers an earlier time with Harold and wonders when it all began.

Episode three: As Alec struggles with grief over his brother's death, a miracle occurs.

You can also listen to previous Between the Covers podcasts.

And if you’re interested in readings of other Canadian books, check out the Hear a Reading page on the Between the Covers site. At the moment, you can listen to the final episodes of Rohinton Mistry’s novel of a family in conflict — Family Matters (Emblem Editions) — as well as Richard B. Wright's Clara Callan (HarperFlamingo), the tale of two sisters in the early part of the last century.