Gilly the Ghillie

Book excerpt: Tall tales of coastal adventures, colourful locals, privileged tourists, and elusive fish abound in this hilariously offbeat sequel to The Codfish Dream. "David Giblin is a marvellous storyteller."—Ian Ferguson, author of The Survival Guide to British Columbia David Giblin's stint as a seasonal salmon fishing guide on Stuart Island provides a seemingly endless supply of hilarious and bizarre stories that reveal as much about the quirkiness of small coastal communities as they do about human nature itself. Now, in his second book of short interconnected stories set in the 1980s, Giblin introduces us to Gilly, the first female fishing guide to grace the tiny island, whose mere presence is enough to shake the foundations of the very insular, all-male guiding community. With the return of delightfully eccentric characters including VOP, Troutbreath, Lucky Peterson, and Wet Lenny, this rollicking maritime adventure will appeal to anyone who ever gutted a fish and lived to tell the tale.