On the Ravine

Contents Cover Also by Vincent Lam Title Page Copyright Dedication Contents Epigraph Author’s Note Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18 Chapter 19 Chapter 20 Chapter 21 Chapter 22 Chapter 23 Chapter 24 Chapter 25 Chapter 26 Chapter 27 Chapter 28 Chapter 29 Chapter 30 Chapter 31 Chapter 32 Chapter 33 Chapter 34 Chapter 35 Chapter 36 Chapter 37 Chapter 38 Acknowledgements Landmarks Cover Cover Title Page Table of Contents Start Copyright Print Page List i ii iii iv v vi vii viii ix 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 219 220 221 222 223 224 225 226 227 228 229 230 231 232 233 234 235 236 237 238 239 240 241 242 243 244 245 246 247 248 249 250 251 252 253 254 255 256 257 258 259 260 261 262 263 264 265 266 267 268 269 270 271 272 273 274 275 276 277 278 279 280 281 282 283 284 285 286 287 288 289 290 291 292 293 294 295 296 297 298 299 300 301 302 303 304 305 306 307 308 309 310 311 312 313 314 315 316 317 318 319 320 321 322 323 324 325 326 327 328 329 330 331 332 333 334 335 336 337 338 339 340 341 342 343 344 345 346 347 348 349 350 351 352 353 354 355 356 357 358 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Also by Vincent Lam
 FICTION
 Bloodletting & Miraculous Cures
 The Headmaster’s Wager
 NON-FICTION
 The Flu Pandemic and You (co-written with Colin Lee)
 Extraordinary Canadians: Tommy Douglas
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 PUBLISHED BY ALFRED A. KNOPF CANADA
 Copyright © 2023 Vincent Lam
 All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer, who may quote brief passages in a review. Published in 2023 by Alfred A. Knopf Canada, a division of Penguin Random House Canada Limited, Toronto. Distributed in Canada by Penguin Random House Canada Limited, Toronto.
 www.penguinrandomhouse.ca
 Knopf Canada and colophon are registered trademarks.
 This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
 LIBRARY AND ARCHIVES CANADA CATALOGUING IN PUBLICATION
 Title: On the ravine : a novel / Vincent Lam.
 Names: Lam, Vincent, author.
 Identifiers: Canadiana (print) 20220149526 | Canadiana (ebook) 20220149542 | ISBN 9780735277717 (hardcover) | ISBN 9780735277724 (EPUB)
 Classification: LCC PS8623.A467 O5 2023 | DDC C813/.6—dc23
 Book design by Jennifer Griffiths, adapted for ebook
 Image credits: (shadows) mesamong / Adobe Stock Images
 
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 For those who are gone,and those who carry on.
 
 
 Contents
 
 Cover
 Also by Vincent Lam
 Title Page
 Copyright
 Dedication
 Epigraph
 Author’s Note
 
 Chapter 1
 Chapter 2
 Chapter 3
 Chapter 4
 Chapter 5
 Chapter 6
 Chapter 7
 Chapter 8
 Chapter 9
 Chapter 10
 Chapter 11
 Chapter 12
 Chapter 13
 Chapter 14
 Chapter 15
 Chapter 16
 Chapter 17
 Chapter 18
 Chapter 19
 Chapter 20
 Chapter 21
 Chapter 22
 Chapter 23
 Chapter 24
 Chapter 25
 Chapter 26
 Chapter 27
 Chapter 28
 Chapter 29
 Chapter 30
 Chapter 31
 Chapter 32
 Chapter 33
 Chapter 34
 Chapter 35
 Chapter 36
 Chapter 37
 Chapter 38
 
 Acknowledgements
 
 
 
 “We shall find peace.
 We shall hear angels, we shall seethe sky sparkling with diamonds.”
 ANTON CHEKHOV
 
 
 AUTHOR’S NOTE
 
 In my first work of fiction, Bloodletting & Miraculous Cures, I explored the lives of four medical students who were immersed in the challenges and transformations that unfolded as they became young doctors. On the Ravine revisits two of these characters. Now, several years on, Chen and Fitzgerald have remained close friends, and have devoted themselves to the treatment of opioid addiction, each in a very different way.
 For the last decade, my own real-life medical work has focused on the treatment of opioid addiction, amidst an ever-growing opioid crisis in North America that has left thousands dead within a still-growing gulf of human loss. As much as this is a medical emergency and a scientific challenge, the opioid crisis is a deeply human tragedy.
 The characters in On the Ravine yearn to be whole, and to be their best selves. They navigate a world of unpredictable drugs, rule-bound medical treatments, scientific ambitions that are tainted with commerce. They