![]() First edition cover | |
Author | Will Ferguson |
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Country | Canada |
Language | English |
Genre | fiction |
Publisher | Penguin Canada |
Publication date | 2012 |
Media type | Print (hardback & paperback) |
ISBN | 978-0143176015 |
OCLC | 8849873414 |
419 is a novel by Canadian writer Will Ferguson. Published by Penguin Canada in 2012, the novel was the winner of the 2012 Scotiabank Giller Prize. [1]
Titled for the section of the Nigerian Criminal Code that deals with fraud, the events of the novel are set in motion by Henry Curtis, a retired school teacher in Calgary, Alberta, who dies in a car accident after becoming embroiled in an advance-fee fraud scam that has left his family destitute. Following his death, his daughter Laura travels to Lagos, Nigeria, in an attempt to track down and bring to justice the perpetrator of the scam. [2]
Prior to the novel's publication, Ferguson was known primarily as a writer of humor literature. [1] At the Giller Prize gala, he told the media that the novel "began with the thought that maybe there really is a Nigerian prince somewhere who can't gain his freedom for lack of funds...but when I started writing it, the story began to turn dark, all by itself." [1]
The novel received generally positive reviews. The Globe and Mail called it "Riveting. Provocative." [3] The Toronto Star called it "a persuasive work of fiction based on a very original premise." [4]
An advance-fee scam is a form of fraud and is one of the most common types of confidence tricks. The scam typically involves promising the victim a significant share of a large sum of money, in return for a small up-front payment, which the fraudster claims will be used to obtain the large sum. If a victim makes the payment, the fraudster either invents a series of further fees for the victim to pay or simply disappears.
The Giller Prize is a literary award given to a Canadian author of a novel or short story collection published in English the previous year, after an annual juried competition between publishers who submit entries. The prize was established in 1994 by Toronto businessman Jack Rabinovitch in honour of his late wife Doris Giller, a former literary editor at the Toronto Star, and is awarded in November of each year along with a cash reward with the winner being presented by the previous year's winning author.
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