The Crying Out

The Witherspoon family, descendants of New England Puritans involved in the 17th-century witchcraft trials, have inherited an unspoken secret that binds them to each other and to their ancient hilltop house in Madawaska Valley, where the lives of four generations of woman named Sibyl have unfolded. The Crying Out is a daring first novel that draws the reader into its haunted world through the power of language and imagery. The highly charged, voice-driven narrative weaves back and forth between the 17th and 20th centuries, integrating past and present, love and betrayal, madness and sanity. By exploring the history of one family, Diane Keating speaks to the eternal question of what makes us who we are.

Diane Keating was born and raised in Winnipeg, but has lived in Toronto the past thirty years. She is the author of four collections of poetry including No Birds or Flowers, which was nominated for the Governor General’s Award, and The Year One, New and Selected Poems, published by Exile Editions. Two of her fictions were short listed for the James Michener Journey Prize.