Dazzle Patterns

de Alison Watt

"Beginning in Halifax on December 6, 1917 -- the day of the devastating Halifax Explosion -- Dazzle Patterns is an unforgettable novel about war, the transformative power of art, and the resilience of the human spirit. It introduces us to Clare Holmes, a flaw-checker working at the glassworks, who loses an eye in the explosion; her fiance, Leo, stationed in France; and her new friend Fred, a German-Canadian glass-maker who introduces Clare to the School of Art and Design. There she meets and inspired by artists Arthur Lismer (who would go on to be part of the famed Group of Seven) and Mary Ritter Hamilton; Clare turns to art as a way to cope with the devastation of the war and her losses. Meanwhile Leo is reported missing in France, and Fred is suspected of spying for German and interred in Amherst, Nova Scotia. Dazzle Patterns is a remarkable debut novel, historical fiction that beautifully illuminates the past and blends historical fact with fiction."--