Like a lot of Atlantic Canadian fiction, The Republic of Nothing is about the life of a family, as well as about an island. In an anarchist utopia, the family is the island no matter what strangers find their way over the bridge. While Choyce tackles a lot of family issues naitive to this genre, he manages to portray Nova Scotians, Canadians and our relationship with America rather well. Except of course that we're not all Conservative.

While The Republic of Nothing approaches politics, family life, sex, romance, in a (mostly) coming of age tale, I did come out with quite a few critiques. As a writer, I find the first quarter of the novel to be very cut-and-paste formulaic in each chapter. The first ten chapters or so start by telling you what happens, and going back through the incident with more detail. The story became much more engaging when it stopped, and the plot really started. Ian McQuade has made strange, unhealthy conclusions about sex equalling love, and his love interest is almost too picture-perfect except for her troublesome attachment to the United States. Perhaps I'm being a little bit critical, but who publishes a review in their own book that comes from a user on Amazon.com?

For anyone who is wondering what they are as a Nova Scotian, Lesley Choyce's portrayl is fascinating and hits close to home. If you live here, you will relate to this tale. For any strangers wondering about the nature of Atlantic Canada, Choyce is a great depiction of our modern sense of self...