The cure for drowning

The Cure for Drowning is a historical magic realist novel centered on the love story between Kit McNair, a gender-nonconforming person from a poor rural family, and Rebekah Kromer, a German-Canadian newcomer to a small Ontario town. The novel follows Kit and Rebekah through the crucible of the Second World War as they struggle against loss, violence and betrayal. Ultimately, the power of found family and the enduring resilience of queer love succeed in overcoming the social, political and magical forces arrayed against them. Research to develop this novel included reviewing source materials on Canada’s participation in WWII, with particular focus on the role of the Royal Canadian Air Force in Britain’s Bomber Command, the Women’s Royal Navy Service’s connection to Allied intelligence gathering, and the Canadian home front experience between 1939-1945. Personal narratives and autobiographies, supplemented with critical queer theory, provided the framework for an extensive survey of the self-identity and experiences of historical gender-non-conforming persons. Finally, a survey of Canadian, Scottish and Irish folklore literature provided inspiration for the magic realist elements of the novel. The Cure for Drowning explores themes of desire, liminality, violence, family bonds and self-creation by imagining a magical-historical Canadian past where queer identity is a source of strength rather than tragedy. By restoring queer and gender-non-conforming people to their rightful place in history, this novel hopes to create a link to the future by reimagining the past.Arts, Faculty ofGraduat