Boulevard
Magazine
By The BOOK
by Greg Pratt
THE GOOD LIE
Local writer and UVic instructor D.F. Bailey must be a
proud Victoria resident, as The Good
Lie (Turnstone,
2007) is littered with so many Victoria references it
threatens to wear thin. Luckily, this does not detract from
Bailey’s strong writing; rather, it adds atmosphere,
especially for local readers. The novel centres on Paul
Wakefield, a good man who has committed a bad crime in a
panicked situation and has to deal with his conscience and
the moral aftermaths of trying to keep the crime covered
up.
The crime itself seems like a small, rather unexciting
action; but it’s a great move on Bailey’s part to have such
consequence arise from something so believable. Paul has to
deal with what he’s done, and also with the father of the
girl involved in the crime, whose actions get increasingly
more dangerous towards Paul’s family. As the story
progresses, the reader begins to wonder what is moral and
what is immoral; what is right and what is wrong. Bailey
has crafted a tale that not only looks at a universal theme
but places it in a very West Coast Canadian context, making
this one story that local readers are going to love.
September / October 2008
