REGINA — Melanie Schnell’s second novel — her first in 13 years — has been gaining plenty of attention and acclaim.
The former southeast Saskatchewan resident, who hails from Lampman and now resides in Regina, released The Chorus Beneath our Feet last fall. She recently found out the novel was nominated for four honours through the Saskatchewan Book Awards, including the prestigious Book of the Year honour.
She is also a finalist for the Fiction Award, the Publishing Award and the City of Regina Book Award.
Schnell told SaskToday said the book has two protagonists, Jes, a Canadian soldier who just returned home from Afghanistan and is estranged from his family, and his sister Mary, who is wanted for questioning in the murder of an infant in the city’s central park.
“Jes is forced home because he’s … tasked with accompanying his best friend’s body home, who died on his watch in Afghanistan. He comes home, and very soon upon landing, he learns that his sister is missing and has been homeless for a while. He doesn’t know how long.”
The siblings have had a troubled relationship, Schnell said. Jes has always viewed Mary as “really strange”, Schnell said, and after their mother died in a vehicle accident when they were adolescents, Mary stopped talking due to selective mutism from trauma.
“Jes embarks on a search to find her, because he’s worried that she’ll implicate herself in this murder. He obviously believes she’s innocent," said Schnell.
Mary has left clues for Jes in the fictional hometown of Ravenswood, much like she did when they were young and Schnell said she sent him on scavenger hunts by stealing his prized possessions and hiding them.
The book is classified as a mystery, Schnell said, but there is also an element of historical fiction, because the novel draws a lot on the experiences British Home Children – orphans who were scooped up from the streets of London in the late 1800s and early 1900s. A lot of them were sent to work on farms in Saskatchewan and Alberta, Schnell said.
“A lot of these kids were abused. A lot of them died. The central narrative goes back to that history, and that history is connected to Jes and Mary’s current situation,” said Schnell.
She heard interviews with British home children who chronicled how they were viewed as dirty and lower class, and had to hide their accents. They often tried to escape the situations and were falsely accused of crimes. Some of the British Home Children hid their experiences.
“Most of them never went back home, though that was a promise when they were brought over, and some of them were given land after their … many years tenure with the farmers,” said Schnell.
A lot of people she has talked to said they didn’t know about the British Home Children, and have since sought out other materials to learn more.
The Chorus Beneath Our Feet also explores Norse mythology and post-traumatic stress disorder among military members. The author conducted extensive research on trees and what lies beneath them, as a tree is featured as a character in the novel.
“There’s a lot going on in the novel, but it has been hailed as a quick read for those who liked it.”
Mary’s character was the first to come to Schnell, who wrote extensively from her perspective, thinking Mary might be the only lead character, but once she started discussing the book with others, she realized Mary isn’t very grounded, so she needed another character. That’s when she brought Jes into the story.
Schnell's first book, While the Sun is Above Us, was released in 2012 and also earned her numerous recognitions. She said there’s an expectation that authors should take just a few years between books, but she added she had to deal with a chronic illness for many years that kept her from reading or writing much, and she was diagnosed with Lyme disease in 2020. She also teaches at the University of Regina and has been raising her son as a single mother, keeping her busy.
Promoting her latest novel has kept Schnell busy, thanks to author readings and other events. She has been to B.C. and Calgary for events, and she’ll be at a conference in Winnipeg to talk about her research for the novel.
The Chorus Beneath our Feet is available through her publisher, Radiant Press, at Indigo and on Amazon. It is also available through audio and e-book platforms.
