About the Epiphanies Trilogy

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Collectively written over a period of 35 years, Jackson’s Epiphanies trilogy implements a  meta-autobiographical narrative monograph in the form of three novels, a full-length three-act play, various in-story short stories, essays, and poetry. If read as novels without consideration for the thorough front and back-matter supplied, each may be said to be a postmodern love story set in the mid-90s Western mindset.

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The protagonists are an author (Midnight at the Arcanum), a painter (The Ancestral Sea), and a martial-artist/quantitative analyst (Touched by Fortune’s Shadow). The leitmotifs of these characters, and the themes of the novels intersect greatly, despite the passage of time between each book’s creation.

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• Midnight at the Arcanum weaves together a complex array of fractured memories, deep longing, and an unyielding drive for artistic expression. Drawing from a diverse palette of life experiences—from childhood days spent in the logging camps of British Columbia, to the vibrant streets of Montreal in the late ’80s, and the gritty weekly rentals of New Westminster in the early 2000s—Jackson crafts a narrative that is intensely personal. Interlacing poems, short stories, essays, a meta-autobiographical novel, a three-act play, and illustrations, coupled with extensive self-reflective interactions with these forms, this multifaceted, intermodal poststructuralist exploration delves into the complexities of identity, place, and time, positioning Midnight at the Arcanum not merely as a single literary piece, but as an overarching examination of the poststructuralist tradition it embodies.

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• The Ancestral Sea brings the reader under the skin and into the tortured mind of celebrated modern expressionist painter Cyrus Drake, who is caught between the shadows of a tragic past and the faded present, where he feels as diminished as the jazz bar he frequents. His journey to reignite his passion for life and art leads him back to his ancestral roots, where he must confront the truths of a traumatic loss. This odyssey is not only a return to the physical spaces of his childhood but also an introspective quest into the core of his identity as an artist and a human capable of love but cautious of its risks. Set against a postmodern love story that unfolds in the bustling streets of Manhattan and along the timeless shores of the Caspian Sea, The Ancestral Sea explores themes of redemption, the enduring beauty of art, and the possibility of personal rebirth from the ruins of past mistakes.

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• Touched by Fortune’s Shadow shows us Brett Lloyd-Ronan, a quantitative analyst leading a quiet, regimented life from his Coal Harbor penthouse in Vancouver, 1998. As the co-founder and chief analyst of a thriving firm, Brett has anchored his life in patterns and predictability, using his intellect and skills to master the turbulent markets of trading, portfolio hedging, and market modeling. Born into a blue-collar world with limited opportunities, he has risen to a position of comfort and control. However, his orderly world is disrupted when a long-admired love reenters his life, turning his predictable days upside down. Further complexity arises when a retired concert pianist challenges him to transform abstract concepts into reality and to choose action over silence and caution. Touched by Fortune’s Shadow explores the tranquil turmoil of Brett’s existence, where despite his mastery in the financial realm of risks and margins, the unpredictable nature of human relationships—where interests and emotions sometimes align or collide without logic—dominates. The narrative questions whether Brett, akin to the perpetually flying Huma bird of legend, will find a place to land and embrace his true self. This novel is Jackson’s longest single work of fiction to date.

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While the trilogy may be read in any order, Midnight at the Arcanum is a monograph as well as a novel and dramatic play, and includes extensive background material on the literary theory of the Knight Terra Press ethos as pertains to poststructuralist literary thinking. This is included in the front/back matter sections and as footnotes. Touched by Fortune’s Shadow also has extensive analysis-informing front and back matter.

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