Linda Little

Her first novel, Strong Hollow published in 2001,[1] is a coming-of-age story set in the Maritimes that features a same-sex romance.[2] Quill & Quire praised the rich characters and Little's ability to make them "transcend stereotypes", but criticized Little for "mistrust[ing] the reader to understand the symbolism at the heart of her story".[2]

In 2006 she followed up with Scotch River, which won three Atlantic Book Awards for that year, including the Thomas Head Raddall Award for best adult fiction.[3] Like in her first novel, Little tells a story set in her familiar home of Nova Scotia. The novel tells the story of an Alberta ranch hand who moves to the fictional town of Scotch River.[4] Quill & Quire praised her sympathetic characters and sensuous writing.[4]

Her third novel, Grist, again takes place in the Maritimes but is set in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.[5] Published in 2014, it tells the story of Penelope and her slowly disintegrating marriage to a miller.[5] Quill & Quire compared the work to Thomas Hardy and Lucy Maud Montgomery, and praised it as a "darkly beautiful novel".[5]

Little has also published a number of short stories and a children's book, Work and More Work.[6] Kirkus criticized the narration of Work and More Work as "bare" and the story as overly idealized.[7]

Little lives on a farm in River John, Nova Scotia, where she raises turkeys.[8] She helps organize the annual Read by the Sea literary festival in the town,[9] and, since 2005, has taught at the Dalhousie University Agricultural Campus in Truro, Nova Scotia.[6] In 2007 she was the writer-in-residence for the Pictou-Antigonish Regional Library.[1]