Trying to Pass

You have to hand it to Wayne Grady. When he steps outside his comfort zone, he makes it a giant step. In the midst of a distinguished career as a non-fiction writer and translator—14 books, 15 translations from the French (including works by Antonine Maillet, Yves Beauchemin and Daniel Poliquin), three Governor General’s Award nominations and one win (for Maillet’s On the Eighth Day)—he has produced his first novel. And not just any old novel, but one set during and just after World War Two in Newfoundland, Windsor and Toronto, featuring several black characters, including one who is desperately determined to pass for white, and dealing with music, race and family dysfunction. There are a lot of ways for this to go wrong, but Grady—a skilled, careful and knowledgeable writer—does not miss a step.

The main story of Grady’s novel, Emancipation Day, begins in 1943 in St. John’s, Newfoundland. Among the thousands of sailors in the port city is Jack Lewis...