Books
A Globe and Mail Best Book, 2022
A Toronto Star Summer Reads Pick, 2022
A Zoomer Magazine CanLit Collection Pick, 2022
At Last Count
Claire Ross Dunn released her first novel, At Last Count, in June 2022 via Invisible Publishing. It’s a coming-of-age tale for adult readers about Paisley Ratchford, a birder living with OCD who is forced to confront sudden change and eviction from her Toronto apartment to make way for condos. The only person who can help Paisley reclaim her homestead on Amherst Island is Garnet, her childhood nemesis and secret crush. The book was named one of the Globe and Mail’s Globe 100: The Best Books of 2022. It was also named a summer reads pick by Toronto Star, a CanLit book club pick by Zoomer magazine, an Editors’ Pick by 49th Shelf, a Staff Pick by Ben McNally Books, a 2022 Top Ten by Beggar’s Banquet Books and a 2022 Top Five by Low Commitment Book Club. It has been featured on CBC’s Ontario Morning, Global TV, Mix 97, Amherst Island Radio, in the Kingston-Whig Standard, The Peterborough Examiner, and elsewhere. In October, Claire was invited to talk about the book at the Vancouver Writers Fest alongside writers Meira Cook and Elif Batuman. She has been awarded Canada Media Fund early development funding to turn the book into a one-hour dramatic TV series, and is currently pitching the show to industry partners.
For book events, readings and launches, please visit this website’s PRESS/EVENTS page
“Captivating page-turner” — Joanne Culley, The Peterborough Examiner
For readers who love Mark Haddon, Miriam Toews, and Sally Rooney.
Paisley Ratchford is trying to keep it together, but her world is about to be turned upside down: In six weeks, the Toronto apartment building she lives in will be demolished. Thirty-nine years old, with nowhere to go and no one to turn to, she tries to regain possession of her childhood home on Amherst Island, a tight-knit community at the eastern end of Lake Ontario.
Doubly unfortunate for Paisley, the lawyer assigned to assist her is her old classmate and tormentor, Garnet Mulligan. It’s more than enough to reignite the obsessive-compulsive disorder that has only ever offered Paisley a semblance of control. Her old compulsion to count in sets of eight had little effect on thwarting her bullies, the crisis engulfing her parents, and her mother’s mental illness—all of which return to haunt her.
Having Garnet represent her case feels risky, but the impending eviction forces her to take a chance, and it pays off: by facing Garnet and her past, she learns that, although her OCD will never disappear, it can be managed, especially if she’s got a shot at a future, a roof over her head, and the possibility of love.
At Last Count is a wise and often laugh-out-loud funny tale that proves we don’t always need to believe everything our brain tells us.
Claire’s first novel, At Last Count, published through Invisible Publishing, is a Globe and Mail Globe 100: The Best Books of 2022 pick, a Toronto Star Summer Reads pick, a Zoomer magazine CanLit Collection pick, a 49th Shelf Editor’s pick, and a Beggar’s Banquet Books Top 10 of 2022 pick.
Praise for At Last Count
“It is not often that a book can manage to talk about something profoundly private and difficult with a light touch. In AT LAST COUNT Claire Ross Dunn compassionately, and with aching accuracy, depicts the traps sprung by OCD as well as the collateral damage of mental illness with agile dialogue, entirely relatable teenage travails, and a past/present framework that moves both narrative and reader along as deftly as wingbeats. (P.S.: The cover is beautiful too. And yes, that counts.)”
-Catherine J. Reader, B.C.
"Author Claire Ross Dunn has written a beautiful novel! At Last Count is as touching and moving as anything by American bestseller Anne Tyler - that funny and heartbreaking chronicler of life's disasters and how we manage to move through them.”
-Antanas Sileika, author of Provisionally Yours
“Paisley Ratchford is a beautifully drawn character who has endured much in her short life. She has OCD, the depiction of which is at once realistic, sensitive, and uplifting. I couldn’t stop turning the pages as I followed Paisley’s journey to confront her demons. Claire Ross Dunn masterfully weaves heartbreak and hope together through the prism of searching for the rarest bird of all, happiness.”
-Zarqa Nawaz, creator of Little Mosque on the Prairie, author of Laughing All the Way to the Mosque and Jameela Green Ruins Everything
"Dunn has a way of making us laugh and cry in the same breath. She makes us think about the patterns we keep on retracing and the joy of taking flight."
-Abby Sher, author of Amen, Amen, Amen: Memoir of a Girl Who Couldn’t Stop Praying
“Written with humour and wisdom and delightful abandon, At Last Count negotiates a way through this often unfathomable life with loveable, fallible characters and a story you won’t soon forget.”
-Jane Finlay-Young, author of From Bruised Fell
Claire talks with author and podcaster Nathan Whitlock about At Last Count, and What Happened Next. Find the full conversation here.
Book clubs/Reading Guide
Claire is happy to do guest appearances for book clubs, either in person, if local, or by Zoom. Reach out to her via this website’s contact page.
Invisible Publishing is happy to offer discounts for bulk book club purchases of the book.
Your book club may be interested in a Reading Guide to get ideas for conversation starters. Visit Invisible Publishing’s Reading Guide page to download by clicking on the cover image of At Last Count.
AT LAST COUNT book trailer
Claire’s Open Book Column
Claire’s first novel, At Last Count (Invisible Publishing, 2022) was recently turned into an audiobook. This is what one hopes for as a writer, because it offers a great second way to reach readers—third, if you count e-book sales. Booknet Canada reports that almost half of all Canadians listened to audiobooks in 2021. Who doesn’t want their book to be part of that? Open Book invited Claire to share her top Seven Tips for Making a Great Audiobook
With past gymnast/NBC Sports commentator Elfi Schlegel, Claire co-wrote The Gymnastics Book: The Young Performer’s Guide to Gymnastics, first published by Key Porter, now in its third edition with Firefly Books.
"An excellent book in every way... Best of all, the book is accessible to early readers. Superb coverage of a popular sport." -- School Library Journal (starred review)
“Highly Recommended.” - Cate Carlyle CM Canadian Review of Materials The Best Gymnastics Books - Justifying Fun
[Review for previous edition] “An informative, visually appealing guide for any child who is interested in this popular sport. Highly recommended.” - Michelle Brian, Librarian, Faculty of Education, University of Ottawa Canadian Materials
“An excellent introduction to the sport.” - Denise Wilms Booklist
Claire wrote an article, “That Was No Lady, That Was My Son” that was published in the Globe and Mail. The article was later published in BOLDPRINT Kids, a Rubicon Publishing literacy series compilation for children and youth.
A French edition was also released.
Claire’s opinion pieces and editorials have been seen in The Globe and Mail and Playback, and have been heard on CBC Radio.
For book writing inquiries, please contact Claire's book agent, Amy Tompkins at Transatlantic Literary Agency.