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The Smoke that Mystifies

Alyson Quinn

This is a story that challenges identity, and leaps impetuously into uncharted territory with two unsuspecting strangers who bump into each other on a busy street. Billy defines himself as gay, and came out of the closet years ago - so why is he suddenly fantasizing about this woman? Anna, in a committed relationship, is equally overwhelmed by her sudden fascination with Billy.
A disaster in Latin America sends Anna, an NGO staffer, to Guatemala. Her return to Vancouver is both alluring and uncomfortable to Billy, who takes an opportunity to fill in at his old job as a travel writer. His subsequent trip to Zimbabwe shakes his core beliefs and points him towards his truth.
The novel peels back and reveals complex layers regarding identity, culture and political turmoil and challenges the reader to dive headlong into turbulent waters and immerse themselves in the cauldron of it all.


""Everything felt like it was drowning in meaning." Alyson Quinn's latest novel is true to her fascination with the deep connections possible between disparate human beings. She presents us with characters who refuse to live within conventional labels. Her work is an exploration of soul. Roger Blenman, author of Dead'er"

"As a reader you are quickly transported into the lives and intimate thoughts of Anna and Billy through the author's immersive writing. The fragility of the heart and ambiguity of whom we fall in love with resonates throughout the story against a backdrop of political turmoil and human disaster. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and will include it in our book groups top reads. Jill Mercer (UK author of 3 books)"

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ABOUT ALYSON QUINN


Alyson was born in Zimbabwe, to Irish parents, and spent her childhood years witnessing its struggle for independence from a white minority. She left to further her education in South Africa, which was still firmly under the vice grip of Apartheid. In her mid-twenties, she immigrated to London, England and launched her career as a Social Worker. She later moved to Vancouver, Canada where she has lived for the past number of decades working as a counselor and group therapist. In 2021 she founded and is Director of a Trauma informed Practice Institute.
To date she has published 5 books with various publishing houses. The most recent books are non-fiction namely Experiential Unity theory and Model: Treating Trauma in Therapy (2022) Lexington Books and also Heal Trauma: How to feel it, Unlock Patterns and Release it (2023) Hamilton Books (Bloomsbury Publishing). Additionally, she has published a novel titled When the River Wakes Up (2014) with Hamilton books. Also, a chapter in a University Textbook called Holistic Engagement (2016) by Oxford University press.
Please see her website www.alysonquinnwrites.com or www.traumainformedpracticeinstitute.com for details.