Edward O. Phillips Returns
Way back in 1981, Edward “Ted” O. Phillips celebrated his 50th birthday publishing his first novel, SUNDAY’S CHILD, under the imprint of McClelland & Stewart, Canada’s most storied (pun intended) publisher of Canadian fiction. The front cover displayed a pen and ink drawing by Phillips; the back cover blurbs from two prominent Canadians. Robert Fulford gushed (a man of letters not known for gushing): “Edward Phillips has produced something unique in literary history – a comic thriller about gays, set in Westmount. I read it with mounting appreciation and laughter. A highly promising debut.” Marian Engel, a poet and celebrated writer added: “It’s real, and it’s moving … emotional range is wide, the feelings run and it speaks sensibly, amusingly, and passionately of and for its community.”
But to be clear: back in 1981, barely a decade into the Gay Liberation Era, none of us had formal LGBTQ civil rights. Though “homosexual acts” were decriminalized in 1969, we routinely lost our jobs, had to hide our identities from family, friends and employers, were refused housing, etc. There were allies, of course, but most Canadians did not support extended human rights protection (“just another special interest group”), let alone married status, civil unions, shared pensions, military service and on.
Into this milieu, Phillips presented, in time for Christmas gift sales, a tale of a bitchy, out gay 50 year old Westmount (ie English Montreal) privileged old money corporate lawyer who accidentally kills a hustler in his Aunt Winnifred’s foyer on News Year’s Eve. The next 200 pages weave a collection of friends, reminiscences and family – and kittens! – as Geoffry Chadwick figures out what to do with the body and how to get on with his life. It is by turns very funny, black humour interspersed with poignant observations. Did we mention the harpsichordist or the Latino cab driver?
Born into the Depression, by 1956 Phillips had earned a law degree from the Université de Montréal. Restless, he decided against law as a career, opting for “professional student”: he graduated with a Master’s Degree in Teaching from Harvard and a second Master’s in English Literature from Boston University. He actually taught school for seven years and then took up painting; he held five one-man and participated in several group shows.
And then, he wrote. And wrote. And wrote. A few short stories appeared in magazines; “Why Don’t You Sit Over Here?” won the 1982 Writer’s Quarterly First Prize. “Matthew and Chauncy” appeared in Saturday Night Magazine, later anthologized in 1983 Best Canadian Stories, and in 1987 turned into a feature film “Salut, Victor!” by Anne Claire Poirier. And out of this frenzy, Sunday’s Child arrived.
Sunday’s Child, like much of Philips’ work, had been out of print for two decades. ReQueered Tales acquired world rights to the six Geoffry Chadwick’s; Sunday’s Child returned in July.
Now, BURIED ON SUNDAY is available for pre-order, the 1987 follow-up and winner of that year’s Crime Writers of Canada Arthur Ellis Award. It’s a “country manor house” setting with Chadwick and some friends and lovers held hostage: a vehicle perfectly suited for Phillips’ dark humour and acerbic observations, mellowed by warmth which turns characters into human beings.
Buried on Sunday also features a foreword by Nancy Wigston who adds her own sketch of Phillips at his 80th birthday party as well as a 1987 interview which appeared at the same time as the novel. Phillips muses on his muses, the writing process and his reception by Canadian and International audiences.
Sunday’s Child
Kindle: https://amzn.to/32RmcC1
Kobo: https://bit.ly/2JsGaLZ
Buried on Sunday
Kindle: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07YL9LCFG
Kobo: https://bit.ly/2nrsYP6
Also available at Apple iBooks, Nook. Please ask your local digital lending library to acquire a copy from Overdrive.
