The Kissing Fence
In the 1950’s, in the Kootenays of British Columbia, Nina and Pavel are among 200 Russian Doukhobor children incarcerated in New Denver BC. They are released into a divided community and bitter conflict with the Province. After years of struggle they have a son, but the divisions remain and loyalties are tested.
Their son grows to resent the culture and hardships of his parents and pursues life in Vancouver. Untethered by the humble aspirations of his people, he prospers but at the expense of others. His bitterness towards the society that squeezed life from his father and people justifies a partnership with criminals and he is drawn more deeply into crime than he knew.
One evening he is cycling in Vancouver’s Stanley Park and is knocked from his bike by an owl. An investigation reveals a tumour under his brain. When it is removed he begins to change. The risks he has taken and the price others have paid for his anger and greed gradually become clear. It offers hope of redemption but he must cease the life of crime before his salvation. That may not be possible and there may not be time before all is lost.
