When a failed artist turns to self-harm in a broken house in the desert, he discovers a mysterious journal written by a girl who may have died there. Meanwhile, on a remote island straight out of a children’s fantasy, a bullied boy explores an abandoned theme park after it suddenly returns to life. As the two protagonists navigate the cramped quarters of the stories they inhabit, a literary agent based in Canada offers their U.S.-based creator some notes on his work. But with the great lockdown of 2020 transforming every aspect of life, can any conclusion bring these unsettled characters and the author who gave birth to them a true sense of home?
Like John O’Brien’s Leaving Las Vegas, An American Canadian Home is a lyrical study of people on the fringe. Like Carmen Maria Machado’s In the Dream House, it uses interwoven literary forms to explore how marginalization can trap the queer artist into a private nightmare. Do the ghosts of those who suffered before us have a lesson to teach, or are we ultimately on our own?