This book chronicles the lives of ordinary English-speaking Quebeckers who 'did not go the other way' down the 401, a neglected Canadian minority that saw its treasured world sacrificed by statist deceit and disowned with 'stricken, evasive looks' even by its own kind. With a vivid, contrarian insight, Keith Henderson shows us that not all change is even-handed or mending, and that when it embodies 'refinemen' and 'necessary humanity', the Past merits passionate preservation. Contemplating these at times gothic, always superbly crafted tales, alert readers will find themselves querying their fashionable complacencies while they ponder a vision conservative in the very best of senses -- one that revives the classical faith in human bonds and meaning, and prompts us to remember that we are 'born into the arms of love'. Reminiscent of the works of Hawthorne, Mansfield, Mann, and Sinclair Ross, "The Pagan Nuptials of Julia" presents the brilliant, interrogative creations of one of Canada's finest 'journalists of the soul'.