Paul Butler's 13th novel, The Whispering Ivy, and back catalogue acquired by Engen Books

Engen Books is proud to announce it has acquired the rights to Paul Butler’s 13th novel, The Whispering Ivy.

When Dr. Leanne Macleod, history teacher, re-awakens the past by investigating a century-old murder, the forces of patriarchy come alive in the very fabric of her home, asserting the official record that ignores the victim's pillar-of-society husband and conveniently blames a foreign outsider.

The Whispering Ivy is a character-driven gothic novel grounded in contemporary themes. It delves into how folk mythology, especially The Green Man, seeks to usurp women’s procreative role, and how this reversal of nature persists into the 2020s. The story explores gender roles, ethnic tensions, and the enduring influence of false history in 21st century life.

Engen has also secured the right to reprint much of Butler's back catalogue of novels. In early 2026 look for new editions of Easton, Easton’s Gold, Nageira, Titanic Ashes, 1892, The Good Doctor, Cupids, and St. John’s City of Fire as well as new collections presenting multiple related titles to new readers, along with essays from the author as he revisits these seminal works of Newfoundland fiction.

Paul Butler is the author of twelve novels. Previous works have appeared on the judges’ lists of Canada Reads, the Newfoundland and Labrador Book Awards shortlists, and he was on the Relit Longlist for three consecutive years. Between 2003 and 2008 he won in the annual Government of Newfoundland and Labrador Arts and Letters Awards four times and was subsequently invited to be first literary representative and then chair of the Arts and Letters committee. He has written book reviews for Canada’s national newspaper of record, The Globe and Mail, articles for Canadian Geographic, and Canada’s History (formerly The Beaver). Most recently he has been an invited presenter (on the subject of The Widow’s Fire) for the Jane Austen Society of North America AGM (in 2017), and in 2021 the Children of the Night International Dracula Congress (on Mina’s Child). Also, in 2021 he was keynote presenter at the Wordbridge (southern Alberta) Conference. His website is https://paulbutlernovelist.wordpress.com/