Raisin Wine
A Boyhood in a Different Muskoka

A warm, at times hilarious, yet dark childhood memoir from a bestselling author.

This memoir recalls the boyhood years of Ontario’s future lieutenant-governor, living in a dilapidated old house complete with outdoor toilet and coal oil-lamp lighting. Behind the outrageous stories, larger-than life-characters, and descriptions of the mores of a small village in the heart of Ontario’s cottage country are flashes of insight from the perspective of a child that recall the great classic Who has Seen the Wind by W.O. Mitchell.

But why "a different Muskoka?" Because the boy was a half-breed kid. Visits to his mother’s reserve showed him that he was caught between two worlds. His mother’s fight with depression flowed from that dilemma. His father — the book’s main character — was a lovable, white, working class, happy-go-lucky guy who never had any money but who made the best home brew in the village — and his specialty was raisin wine.

Like that raisin wine, this unusual book goes down easily and has a kick to it.

AUTHOR

James Bartleman rose from humble circumstances in Port Carling, Ontario, to become Foreign Policy Advisor to the Prime Minister in 1994. He is the author of the prize-winning memoir Out of Muskoka. In 2002 he became the Lieutenant-Governor of Ontario. Mr. Bartleman is donating his 2004 royalties to the Munk Centre for International Studies at the University of Toronto to support a lecture series entitled "Political Power and Mental Health", designed to engage the public in discussion on issues central to "Shared Citizenship" in Canada.

DETAILS

Publisher: Douglas Gibson Books, 2007
Category: Biography, autobiography, and reminiscences
ISBN: 978-1-55199-206-8
Price: $29.99 CDN/USA hardcover
Format: 272 pages 5.79 x 8.82 in