Bones of a Giant: Penguin Random House Announces Sequel to All the Quiet Places
CBC Books recently announced the first look at BC author Brian Thomas Isaac's new novel, Bones of a Giant (Random House Canada, 2025). His sophomore novel continues the story he began in All the Quiet Places (TouchWood Editions, 2021) which now follows younger brother Lewis Toma as he navigates grief, responsibility and family secrets.
All the Quiet Places was Isaac's debut novel at the age of 70 and earned him many accolades including Canada Reads longlist, Scotiabank Giller Prize longlist, winner of an Indigenous Voices Awards, finalist for both the Amazon First Novel Prize and the Governor Generals Awards, and was named by Indigo as a Top 100 Book of 2021.
Beyond awards, All the Quiet Places has been praised by fellow authors and media.
"A debut like no other . . . beautifully written . . . [Isaac has] a tremendous attention to detail.”
—Carol Off, CBC’s As it Happens
"All the Quiet Places is a deftly crafted, evocative story about the trials of growing up Indigenous. Brian Thomas Isaac’s characters are complex, relatable, and overall, beautifully human."
—Waubgeshig Rice is the bestselling author of Moon of the Crusted Snow and Moon of the Turning Leaves
"On par with the brillance of James Welch's Winter in The Blood and Ruby Slipperjack's Little Voice, Brian Isaac has given us a startling read that'll live wire your soul and haunt you for a good long while. Pure brilliance. Wow."
—Richard Van Camp, author of The Lesser Blessed and Moccasin Square Gardens
“All the Quiet Places is the kind of novel that works its way into your soul. Essentially, it’s a tale of childhood, all the wonders and tragedies, that befall a young boy on an Okanagan Reserve in the middle of the last century. Familiar, yet unique, Eddie’s story will captivate the reader.”
—Drew Hayden Taylor, author of Chasing Painted Horses and Cold
“What a welcome debut. Young Eddie Toma’s passage through the truly ugly parts of this world is met, like an antidote, or perhaps a compensation, by his remarkable awareness of its beauty. This is a writer who understands youth, and how to tell a story.”
—Gil Adamson is the winner of the Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize for Ridgerunner
"This debut, about an Indigenous boy’s sometimes harsh coming of age on an Okanagan reserve."
—Globe and Mail
“All the Quiet Places is primarily a tale about people. The forces that shape their lives are evoked with the same clarity as the snowberry bushes and beaver dams, the Christmas concerts and smoky pool halls. The result is a heartfelt and absorbing work of art.”
—Literary Review of Canada
"I feel that Brian Thomas Isaac has earned every single word, every single sentence, every single line. There's so much hilarity in here. There's so much wisdom … My goodness, what a journey this book takes you on,"
—CBC Unreserved
