Sunny Dreams AUTHOR: Alison Preston ISBN 1-897109-20-2 ISBN-13 9781897109205 208 PAGES $16.95 CDN $14.95 US ABOUT THE BOOK: On a spring morning in 1925 Sunny Palmer disappears from her baby carriage in Picardy's restaurant in downtown Winnipeg. It happens in seconds when big sister Violet and her mother wander up to choose their treats from the dessert display. As those first minutes turn to days, months, then years, the Palmer family collapses and gradually glues itself back together in a new form. The Dirty Thirties are in full swing: on a hot summer day in June of 1936 two drifters looking for work turn up in the Palmers' back yard. They are among the legions of men criss-crossing the country looking for work. Violet's father, Will Palmer, a local attorney with few construction skills, invites the men to pitch their tent and stay on to build a garage for his new Buick. But he's on his guard. One of the men, Jackson Shirt, seems a little too well-educated and much too handsome to ring entirely true. He's just Violet's age, seventeen, but Will senses he has more than his share of secrets. A wayfaring friend of the drifters drops by occasionally to watch them work. If anything blameworthy occurs in the neighbourhood — theft, noise, even illness — these three outsiders come under close scrutiny. When polio strikes that August, suspicion turns to savagery. And Jackson Shirt's secrets are revealed. The story takes place in the Norwood Flats section of Winnipeg, the same setting as Preston's previous novels. This time, though, the action is mostly in the Depression year of 1936 and we meet Fraser Foote, the father of Frank, who has played a part in previous books. Other Signature titles by Alison Preston: The Geranium Girls The Rain Barrel Baby Cherry Bites REVIEWS: "[Alison Preston's] forte is the homely drama, and Sunny Dreams is perfect. Set mostly in the darkest days of the Depression, it takes on a parent's worst nightmare: the stolen baby… Preston is a dab hand with setting, and her Norwood Flats neighbourhood, full of engaging characters and lots of secrets, is very well done. Fans will note that the father and grandfather of her series detective, Frank Foote, are beautifully presented." —Margaret Cannon, The Globe and Mail "The mystery of Sunny's abduction never feels forced or separated from anything else in the novel. It is the backbone. Violet's journey into adulthood evolves in between the plot, weaving in beautifully." —The Uniter