The Anatomy of Edouard Beaupré by Sarah Kathryn York

Circus strongman Edouard Beaupré of Willow Bunch, Sask., stood over eight feet tall and died in 1904 at just 23. For years, Université de Montréal researchers examined his remains in search of his secrets — why did his spine continue to shrink after death while his skull grew? In this debut novel, Sarah Kathryn York breathes new life into Beaupré’s bones via two parallel storylines: that of the man himself, a tragic soul doomed to live life on display, and that of the anatomist intrigued by Beaupré’s preserved cadaver because he himself is shrinking.

The Anatomy of Edouard Beaupré, Sarah Kathryn York, $18.