**EDDY BOUDEL TAN**. *(Hannes van der Merwe Photo)*

EDDY BOUDEL TAN
Diverse Voices and Provocative Perspectives

West End author and self-proclaimed bon vivant and literary escape artist, Eddy Boudel Tan’s third novel, The Tiger and the Cosmonaut, will be released by Penguin Canada on April 29. His previous novels were The Rebellious Tide (Dundurn Press / 2021) and After Elias (Dundurn Press / 2020).

This busy author’s works depict a world much like our own — the heroes are flawed, truth is distorted, and there is as much hope as there is heartbreak.

As a queer, second-generation Asian Canadian, Eddy celebrates diverse voices, provocative perspectives, and champions stronger LGBTQ+ representation in the arts.

Living with his husband Thomas in a book-filled apartment near English Bay, Eddy says they “love to host dinner parties, take runs along the beach, and plot micro-revolutions.”

His most valued form of education is travel. He has visited over thirty countries since three perspective-altering weeks building houses in El Salvador. Subsequent journeys have taken him from subterranean caves in Iceland to the tops of volcanoes in Indonesia.

Besides being an enthusiastic supporter of Vancouver's independent dining scene, Eddy feels most at home in a museum, behind a book, by the ocean, hosting a get-together, or “dancing questionably” at a live show. He works in marketing and advertising, while pursuing his main passion as a novelist.

The Tiger and the Cosmonaut is a noirish page-turner about a mysterious disappearance and a moving portrait of a Chinese Canadian family navigating insecurities, expectations, and simmering anger in their small B.C. town. Here’s a taste of what you can expect in Eddy’s new novel:

Casper Han grew up the dutiful son of immigrants who never felt entirely welcome in their remote corner of British Columbia. Now an adult, living in Vancouver with a boyfriend whose privilege he quietly resents, Casper rarely returns to his hometown, the site of a grief his family doesn’t discuss: the loss of his twin brother, Sam. Over twenty years have passed since Sam went missing, and a crisis brings Casper and his siblings back. Their father has vanished, only to be found wandering the vast woods beyond the family home, confused and clutching a pair of scissors, seemingly trapped in the memory of that tragic night. In order to move forward, the Han family must finally confront the past and untangle the mystery of what really happened to Sam.

Combining the atmosphere and intrigue of a cracking good suspense novel with the depth of a rich character study, The Tiger and the Cosmonaut tells the story of a family whose members have long made themselves small and quiet and obedient—and what happens when the cycle is finally broken.

Eddy’s books can be found at your favourite bookseller, including Little Sisters on Davie. The Tiger and the Cosmonaut will be released in bookstores and platforms across Canada in print, e-book, and audio on April 29. For updates on Eddy’s work follow him on Instagram or visit his website at eddyboudeltan.com where you can subscribe to his literary newsletter Eddy’s Edit.