Bookends with Mattea Roach

It’s easy to glamorize small town life … but Kevin Hardcastle’s new novel, County Road Six, is all about the darkness lurking in rural Canada. When Arthur O’Hare dies, his three daughters return to the family farm to sort through what he left behind. But what they inherit is more than land — it’s a shadowy history they never knew existed. County Road Six is a dramatic thriller about economic decline, family secrets and the lengths people will go to survive. It’s a compelling and unsettling story that pulls from Kevin’s own background growing up as a working class kid in rural Ontario. This week, Kevin tells Mattea Roach about exploring the rural Canadian experience, adding elements of horror to his stories and why towns can be more dangerous than cities.

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The beauty and despair of Appalachia
Buffoon or genius? What makes a cult leader?

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A glamorous life and career in New York’s fashion industry was everything Douglas Stuart worked for. So why did he walk away from it all? And how did he go from fashion designer to Booker Prize winning author? Douglas’s first two novels, Shuggie Bain and Young Mungo, were critically acclaimed hits. He continues the streak with John of John, a moving novel about a young man returning home to a remote Scottish island steeped in religion and tradition. It’s one of the hottest books of spring and an Oprah’s Book Club pick. This week, Douglas joins Mattea Roach to talk about his major career change, diving into Hebridean culture and drawing on his own upbringing for the novel.

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For Jeanette Winterson, stories are essential to survival
Why you can’t forget your first love

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Anne Kim has it all. She’s a high-powered tax lawyer, lives in a beautiful apartment in New York and has the perfect boyfriend to boot. She’s the pride of her parents, Korean immigrants in small-town Alberta who worked day and night to keep the family afloat. But Jane Park’s debut novel, Inheritance, is all about the hidden costs of Anne’s immigrant success story — the hurt, trauma and stifling expectations that tore her family apart. When her father’s death sends her back to Alberta, Anne is forced to confront the reality of her upbringing and the truths behind a violent act that changed her family forever. This week, Jane tells Mattea Roach about the nuances of Korean resilience, how her own experiences factor into the book and what it’s like to be an Asian woman today.

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Where do North Korean spies go for dinner?
Emma Knight: 'Bad' mothers make good stories — and are more true-to-life

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A famous crime writer who gets her inspiration from years of working on real cases at the medical examiner’s office. That’s the story of Patricia Cornwell, the bestselling author of the Kay Scarpetta series. Her new memoir, True Crime, is all about the person behind the thrillers … and it proves that sometimes, life is stranger than fiction. From getting dropped off at the doorstep of one of America’s most famous evangelicals to her real forensics experience, Patricia’s memoir is an autopsy of her life and the obstacles she overcame to become a world-renowned author. This week, Patricia tells Mattea Roach about her tumultuous childhood, her path to writing and why she injects hope into her crime novels.

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• Meth and murder in rural America

• Getting to know Canada’s king of suspense

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The winner of the 2026 CBC Short Story Prize is the Vancouver-based writer Larah Luna. Larah’s story, A Season of Crows, is about a small town learning to live with a huge murder of crows that passes through the town. Born in the Philippines and raised in Manitoba, Larah grew up surrounded by prairie landscapes that shaped the emotional setting of her story. A Season of Crows explores the wonder of the natural world and accepting the unknown … but it’s also based on Larah’s own experiences with grief and loss, and how the environment can hold the emotions that we struggle to convey.

You can read Larah’s story here.

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Meet the winner of the 2025 CBC Short Story Prize
What does dystopia look like in the suburbs?

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