Programs

Set in Vancouver in 1922, Gin, Turpentine, Pennyroyal, Rue is immersed in the complex political and social realities of the 1920s and, not so ironically, of the 2020s: love, sex, desire, police corruption, abortion, addiction, and women wanting more. Much more.

Four working-class sisters, still reeling from the impact of WWI and the 1919 Flu Pandemic that stole away their only brother, are scraping by but attempting to make the most of the exciting 1920s. Morag is pregnant; she loves her husband. Georgina can’t bear hers; she dreams of escaping her stifling marriage and getting an education. Harriet-Jean, still at home with her opium-addicted mother, is in love with a woman. And Isla is in love with her sister Morag’s husband. 

Higdon’s novel is a tender account of love that cannot be acknowledged, of loss and regret, risk and defiance, abiding friendship, and the powerful bonds of chosen family. Drop-in.