Jack Hodgins has developed his own style, his one lens, with mythic elements, and he has made an enormous contribution to B.C. fiction in the process. As a trailblazer, he’s in the realm of Bertrand Sinclair, his Nanaimo born contemporary Anne Cameron, or playwright George Ryga. He has dared to be original.
BC Book World
The Master of Happy Endings is a novel of how the past shapes the present and how the present shapes the future, each in their own unexpected ways….Hodgins, a Governor General’s Award winner and a member of the Order of Canada, demonstrates the deft skills readers have come to expect…. The major characters are well-rounded. Thorstad himself is the kind of man a reader might want to spend time with…
National Post
[The Master of Happy Endings] contains strong storytelling and powerful characters. Hodgins’ latest novel is a testament to the notion that the secret to a happy ending may well be not worrying too much. Thorstad is high on life’s rich pageant. His exuberance rubs off on the reader.
Quill and Quire
An irresistible novel about the vagaries of youth, old age, Hollywood, family, and the marvel of keeping going.
Alice Munro
...soundly constructed and beautifully written... This modest Canadian protagonist discovers that some of the most satisfying encounters are found close to home. That goes double for the homegrown talent of Hodgins and his newest literary delight.
The Lethbridge Herald
Hodgins is a master of sweet irony. If the human comedy dictates happy endings, we are rewarded with Axel's circuitous journey from innocence to experience that leaves us instructed in the meaning of life.
The Pacific Rim Review of Books
The Master of Happy Endings is an exuberant novel about the power of narrative to serve as a compass for human odysseys. Hodgins' story is as much about the terrain of the heart and spirit as it is about the physical world and he moves confidently from one to the other, his literary skill in service to his rich imagination.
Jurors' citation, Victoria Book Prizes
Any new novel from one of Canada's literary icons is eagerly anticipated. His latest, a powerful story about the vagaries of old age, is bound to satisfy Hodgins' many fans. It certainly left a smile on my face.
The Sun Times