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Wordfest by Lachlan Mackintosh The low-slanting sun is shining in both Toronto and Calgary on the afternoon I talk to Catherine Bush. She’s had a whirlwind year supporting the release of her second novel, The Rules of Engagement. This summer has seen her spend a month in New York City, visit writer’s conferences in Tennessee and Vermont, and complete a reading tour through Seattle, Portland and San Francisco. Next up for Bush is Calgary’s PanCanadian Wordfest, but not before she enjoys a rare couple of weeks in her downtown Toronto home. From the outset her voice is warm and she’s straightforward about the successful stretch she’s had, including a recent full-page review in the New York Times. Six-and-a-half years in the making, The Rules of Engagement is the story of a 31-year-old Canadian, Arcadia Hearne, who lives in London and works at the Centre for Contemporary War Studies. She is drawn back to Canada by converging events in her public and private life, and by the haunting recollections of a duel that was fought over her 10 years earlier in a Toronto ravine. One of the strengths of the novel is how Bush intertwines Arcadia’s guarded past with her present life analyzing modern war. "Ideally, what I want is a balance. I’m really interested in where people’s private lives intersect with their public life – their work lives," she explains. "I started with both my own ambivalence and interest in war studies." And from there the creative process takes hold. Then there’s the duel – the key to understanding Arcadia. Bush explains how, through a friend, she first heard the account of a duel fought in Toronto. It was a story that stuck with her. "I knew that this event had happened, and like Arcadia, I knew it was essential to figure out why. The story lodges there like a thorn and just won’t let you go." There is another vital moment in the book, which Bush places in the final few pages. She explains, "I wasn’t absolutely sure how I was going to end the book. But you have to believe you’ve created all this interior knowledge over the six years of writing the book.... I think I’m a romantic at heart, and so I want that element of romance to be there." On Saturday, October 14, Bush will host a WordFest event called, "Debutantes and Dames" featuring award-winning Canadians Joan Clark, Lynn Coady, Elizabeth Hay, and U.K. newcomer Maggie O’Farrell. "As someone who’s written about everything from amazons to astronauts to women who write about war theory, I’m particularly interested in women who do taboo-breaking things," says Bush, who is looking forward to the event. "That seems important, that there be women like that, striding around in fiction." Here’s looking forward to where Catherine Bush’s characters set their feet down next.

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