Stories set in Surrey’s urban sprawl fuel Driving Crazy to the Front Door, Michael Foy’s debut collection.

Born and raised in Surrey, the author now lives in Montreal with his wife and two daughters.

Since moving, “I find solace and value in remembering events from my time there (in Surrey), growing up in a city bursting at the seams, and coping with the change that ensued forms a theme in some of the stories,” Foy said in 2020.

Published in October, Driving Crazy to the Front Door sees the author “shine some light on the darkness of the human condition, and in so doing, help us to better understand ourselves, our family, friends and maybe even our enemies.”

The characters, he says, “face a demolition of love, a type of destruction that forces them to rebuild and, if they can, recoup their losses.”

First among the book’s 14 stories is “The Powderman,” about explosives experts at Pitt River Quarry. Included is a scene of beer, billiards, strippers and a mechanic nicknamed Douche at the old Newton Inn on King George Boulevard.

Each story has some hope and redemption, Foy underlines, whether from a failed marriage, a dead mother or a fatal car crash.

“There is humour too, when three kids cram into a straw-filled chicken coop to hide from an angry farmer, lighting up more than cigarettes,” he revealed. “Or you’ll find 82-year-old Nora Allen escaping from the Florence Nightingale hospital, stealing a car, and ordering a Big Mac before continuing down the King George highway to her childhood home to search for her adopted son. Cooper Reynolds is an old widow who might remarry, but first, his estranged, druggie daughter comes home to save his life.”

Foy grew up in the Newton area of Surrey from 1970 to 2004, before teaching, academic pursuits and, he says, “a beautiful woman” prompted a move to the U.S. and, ultimately, Montreal.

The 249-page Driving Crazy to the Front Door sells for $25.95 on michaelfoy.ca, where a bio says Foy holds degrees in psychology and education from Simon Fraser University. His fiction has appeared in various magazines, journals and anthologies, and his story “The Questions Run” received an honourable mention in the Riddle Fence Fiction Contest.

Hosted by Upstart & Crow Studio in Vancouver, a book-launch event for Driving Crazy to the Front Door is Friday, Nov. 13 at 6:30pm on Granville Island. Visit upstartandcrow.com for details or click eventbrite.ca.