The Pull of the Moon

"[The Pull of the Moon] is a reminder that we are dealing with humans and human behaviour seen up close: funny, sad, inadequate, tragic, venal, conflicted, desperate, sometimes even noble. This particular cartography is often entertaining, frequently disturbing, and always illuminating." —The Coastal Spectator

"Modern short stories can be plotless, pretentious and downright irritating. This isn’t a problem with the work of [Julie] Paul, who writes insightful and entertaining stories, often with a West Coast connection. Her male central characters tend to be good men felled by grief. Her women can be loopy and fanciful. This new collection of 12 stories doesn’t disappoint." —The Toronto Star

"The through-line in Julie Paul’s second collection of stories is a small yet powerful transformation in character: in each, a person feels the near-physical pull of something outside themselves. . . Collections can be hit-and-miss affairs. This one is thoroughly good." —Globe and Mail

"[It] explores what you might find when you scratch beneath the surface of someone else's life . . . There is genuine humanity and insight that leads to understanding." —y.a.m. Magazine

"Paul’s voice is a strong one, and her characters a worthy study. Add to this The Pull of the Moon’s surprising cohesion, its weave of both obvious and deeply buried repeating themes and images, and the result is a collection worth noting." —FreeFall Magazine

The Pull of the Moon selected as one of the Globe and Mail's top 100 best books of 2014.

"Julie Paul surveys the minutiae of human relationships with a sharp and quizzical eye." —The Coastal Spectator

Governor General Award Winner Arleen Paré chose The Pull of the Moon as her holiday gift pick for the Ottawa Citizen.

"Paul is both a superb story teller and a fine poet. She wastes no words. Her characters are believable, sympathetic — and highly unusual. These twelve stories are funny — often very funny — but they tingle with human longing and fear . . . You’ll want to buy this one for your friends. And then borrow it back." —Arleen Paré, award-winning author of Lake of Two Mountains

"This is writing of emotional veracity with an edge, of humour alongside gravity, of darkness tempered with blithe optimism. The pull of Julie Paul is powerful." —Rover

"The stories in The Pull of the Moon range from funny-sexy through funny-grim to outright harrowing. They are all good . . . Between Paul’s range and virtuosity, most readers will find something to glom onto. Simply put, this is a good collection of short stories and well-worth a read. " —The Other Press

"The Pull Of The Moon isn’t a world of straightforward happy endings. It’s a world where nothing is perfect, and people must learn to live with each other, despite their loved one’s complex flaws. Julie Paul’s Pull Of The Moon consistently succeeds in portraying such a world, thanks to Paul’s ability to capture both the warmth and the strangeness of the way people behave." —The Winnipeg Review

49th Shelf inclues Julie Paul and The Pull of the Moon on their list of the New Generation of Canadian Short Stories

"Julie Paul's wistful, charming stories—full of humour and subtle revelations—strike gently but powerfully at the heart. The Pull of the Moon is a delight." —Shaena Lambert, author of Oh My Darling

"The Pull of the Moon is a collection laced with surprises and deftly woven moments of wonder. Julie Paul's is a world where families, friendships, and relationships fall apart, and where desperate people struggle to put them back together." —Daniel Griffin, author of Stopping for Strangers

"Fresh and contemporary … real life captured eloquently and with sublety." —Lee Henderson, author of The Man Game

"Danger: High Voltage. Julie Paul's stories are masterful and sexy." —Kathleen Winter, award-winning author of Annabel

The Pull of the Moon awarded the Bronze Medal for Short Story Fiction by the 2015 Independent Publisher (IPPY) Awards.

"The stories are good, and true to the title, they’ve got that quality of lunar tug that makes one feel a little under the influence of something bigger than themselves." —Jill Margo Mini Mag

For Rob McLennan's 12 or 20 Second Series, Julie Paul fills us in on how she overcomes writers' block, the importance of being able to move freely between genres, and much more.

"Despite their trials and challenges, Paul’s characters ... are fully drawn, open, and sensitive to the detailed beauty of the world around them. Dialogue is fresh and believable. Humour is never far away. And it’s testament to the author’s skill that she knows when and how to end each story. Some endings may leave you gently puzzled—those who need tidy, wrapped-with-a-bow explanations for everything, beware — but mostly you will find yourself thinking, deeply, about how things might play out and how, at heart, we’re all part of one big crazy family, trying to do the best we can." —Rhonda Batchelor, reviewing for the Greater Victoria Public Library

Julie Paul's The Pull of the Moon wins the City of Victoria Butler Book Prize, a $5,000 prize from the Victoria Book Prize Society.

Following Julie Paul's win at the Victoria Book Prizes, Will Johnson of Literary Goon asks her about her book, her inspiration, and how writing non-human characters adds to her narrative.