Watching You, Without Me

Lynn Coady is a novelist and screenwriter. Her most recent

novel is Watching You Without Me. It was released in 2020 by

Canadian publisher Anansi Press in 2019.

A few years ago, I had on hand a secondhand copy of

Saints of Big Harbour that had been signed by the author. It was

an intimate story set in the small community to Cape Breton

Island, Nova Scotia. It had young Guy Boucher as the main

character. He is a teenager without a father and an Acadian, a

descendant of the French community that had settled in the

Maritime provinces.

Watching You Without Me follows Karen. The death of her

mother draws her back to Nova Scotia. She left ten years

before. She takes on the role of caregiver to her older sister

Kelli, who has a developmental disability.

She feels the guilt of having stayed away for so long, and

pursuing her own life, that meant a distant relationship with

her mother and older sister for so many years.

Originally Published on January 22, 2026