Nicholas Herring - Your Breath in Charcoal: Contemporary Fiction Novel

“I said, ‘the pair of us look like some scratch ‘n win tickets,’ and Earn said, ‘More like scratch ‘n lose.’” Nicholas Herring’s Your Breath in Charcoal follows Knickle, a young Islander adrift without friends or purpose. His life takes an unexpected turn when he travels to northern New Brunswick to collect an acquaintance’s brother from a mental health hospital. A spontaneous decision leads them further west, seeking a new life amidst the vibrant chaos of Upper Canada.

Arriving in the bustling city of Tah-ron-ah for the first time, Knickle encounters love, hope, and profound loss. This novel is a hilarious, sensitive, and heady working-class odyssey, rich with metaphorical depth and infused with references to literature, film, and 90s music. Your Breath in Charcoal offers a compelling glimpse into the mind of its irrepressible and relentlessly quotable East Coast everyman.

A follow-up to Herring’s acclaimed debut novel, Some Hellish, which won the Atwood Gibson Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize, Your Breath in Charcoal is a galvanizing addition to the East Coast literary canon.

• Author: Nicholas Herring
• Publisher: Goose Lane Editions
• Publication Date: September 15, 2026
• Language: English
• Print Length: 328 pages
• Binding: Paperback
• Dimensions: 22.9 x 15.2 x 2 cm
• Weight: 58 g
• ISBN-10: 1773104748
• ISBN-13: 978-1773104744

This contemporary fiction novel is perfect for readers who appreciate character-driven stories with a blend of humor, poignancy, and cultural references.