After Elias
Available now from Dundurn
A modern queer tragedy about a pilot's last words, an interrupted celebration, and the fear of losing everything.
"A truly rare and wonderful book"
— Timothy Taylor, author of Stanley Park and The Rule of Stephens
When the airplane piloted by Elias Santos crashes one week before their wedding day, Coen Caraway loses the man he loves and the illusion of happiness he has worked so hard to create. The only thing left behind by Elias is a recording of his final words, and even Coen is baffled by the cryptic message.
Numb with grief, he takes refuge on the Mexican island that was meant to host their wedding. But as fragments of the past come to the surface in the aftermath of the tragedy, Coen is forced to question everything he thought he knew about Elias and their life together. Beneath his flawed memory lies the truth about Elias — and himself.
From the damp concrete of Vancouver to the spoiled shores of Mexico, After Elias weaves the past with the present to tell a story of doubt, regret, and the fear of losing everything.
Praise for After Elias
"A truly rare and wonderful book, utterly engrossing throughout. Coen is a hero for our era, darkly struggling amid the aftershocks of loss, but doing so with dignity, humanity, and passion. Tracking Coen’s progress towards answers is a riveting and emotional journey. Watching him in his relationships is a richly rewarding meditation on love, friendship, betrayal and the undying hope for reconciliation."
— Timothy Taylor, author of Stanley Park and The Rule of Stephens
"Eddy Boudel Tan has written an immersive, unpredictable, engaging first novel propelled by mystery, softened by tenderness, and enriched with little wisdoms."
— Patrick Nathan, author of Some Hell
“A dark tale bravely told with great clarity and beauty, After Elias treads nimbly down a dangerous path. Eddy Boudel Tan has crafted a page turner from a set of unlikely ingredients — tragedy, grief, pain and the darker shadows of the human mind. But most of all he has written tenderly, resplendently, about love."
— Christopher J. Yates, author of Black Chalk and Grist Mill Road
"In his heartfelt and highly engaging debut, Eddy Boudel Tan asks us to stare into the dark waters of one man’s personal tragedy and help make sense of the pieces that wash up onto the shore. At times mysterious and surprising, the novel is a compelling and tightly bound examination of grief, shame, doubt and the darkness that conspires to dissolve our most beloved relationships. A joy to read."
— Christopher DiRaddo, author of The Geography of Pluto
"After Elias promises from the start to be a puzzle. This is no simple mystery, and the layered psychological struggles and revelations kept me furiously turning pages until the very end. With chapters that shift through time along with the narrator's emotions, a cast of very real but relatable secondary characters, and a haunting sense of the past, After Elias gifts the reader with gorgeous, economic prose and the pace of a thriller. I couldn't put it down."
— Natalie Jenner, author of The Jane Austen Society
One of the must-read books of Fall 2020
— The Globe and Mail
One of the most anticipated LGBTQ books of October 2020
— Lambda Literary
“It's rare to find a book that works well as a deeply emotional exploration of grief and as a suspenseful thriller, but After Elias manages this feat."
— Booklist
“Arresting... [a] deftly crafted novel.”
— Foreword Reviews
“Intriguing... The novel has plenty of rewards.”
— Publishers Weekly
