Cumberland, published by Cormorant Books in 2002, is Michael V. Smith's first novel, short-listed for the Amazon/Books in Canada First Novel Award.

Cumberland is a small town story about loss and longing.

Ernest is a millworker who finds himself without a job, or prospects for one, at fifty-two. Bea is his girlfriend, a waitress at his favourite pub. Her teenage housemate, Amanda, meets Ernest's buddy Nick and falls for him on the tail of dumping her boyfriend. Amanda baby-sits Nick's eight-year-old, Aaron, who's intimidated by Fletcher, the neighbourhood bully.

Cumberland is a spare but moving story about love, and ultimately hope, in lives limited by circumstance.

Set on the far edge of southeastern Ontario, Cumberland is a fictional town losing its industries in the wake of the North American Free Trade Agreement. The overlooked setting of a depressed industrial landscape explores the changing economy of small town life. Cumberland enters into CanLit as alive and telling and complex as Manawaka, Jubilee or Mariposa.

The characters live a life of deflation and endurance, in their contradictions and weaknesses, their subtle collapse and triumphs. Ernest's secret life, Bea's willingness to settle for less, Amanda's bold determination to win Nick over, and Aaron's torment at the hands of Fletcher reveal a side to human nature rarely seen in fiction. Cumberland is a fresh and candid exploration of desire, blurring the lines of identity.

Longing for companionship and comfort, Bea, Aaron, Ernest and Amanda satifsy their needs with what opportunity is available, despite the social cost. In a small town such as Cumberland, as in any urban centre, desire is liminal.

The ease with which the story is told, the straight-forwardness in style and frank approach belies the depth of character and human emotion held within the book¹s powerful moments. Written in a plain language, with a seemless narrative clarity, Cumberland is resonant with simplicity.