The Last Solos

Errol Flynn arrives in Vancouver in October 1959 to raise money against the Zaca, the schooner lying unpaid and deteriorating in Palma.

Her crew is waiting. Her hull is taking water. The cash promised by businessman George Caldough may be the last chance to keep her afloat.

Flynn is fifty, gravely ill and still drinking through crowded bars, private parties and nights that continue after his body has had enough. Beside him, seventeen-year-old Beverly Aadland begins to understand that charm, fame and promises may leave her carrying the consequences alone.

Glenn Gould enters the story through his uncle, Dr. Grant Gould. He knows Flynn first as a public face, then as a voice and failing body heard through walls, floorboards and medical machinery. The encounter follows Gould back to the piano, where perfection begins to mean something different.

Told with close physical attention to alcohol, money, music, illness, wood and labour, THE LAST SOLOS is a historical novel about reputation, control and the ordinary work that continues after a famous life can no longer command events.

In Vancouver, the deal collapses.

In Palma, the pumps keep running.