Genre: Historical Fiction, Canadiana
Status: Editing and secondary revision
Word Count: 100k

In May 1980, Mount St. Helens erupted in a fury, sending ash soaring across the United States and Canada. As the world watched the natural disaster unfold, a group of young men known as the Prairie Steel Gang worked tirelessly along the iconic Canadian Pacific Railway, their sledgehammers rising and falling in rhythm over the polished steel of freshly laid tracks.

Ten days after the devastation wrought by Mount St. Helens, tragedy struck the Steel Gang near Webb, Saskatchewan.

In April 2025, a man dies, leaving behind one final wish. In the last pages of his well-worn journal, begun in the summer of 1980, Gerry “Lemon” Lemay requests that his ashes be scattered across the heartland of Canada, along the terrain covered by the Prairie Steel Gang.

And so, in May 2025, two men and a young woman set off on a 1,500-kilometre journey, bound by their connection to Gerry Lemay. Guided by the entries in the journal and determined to honour Gerry’s last request, Gil, Rob, and Lizzie travel through places both remembered and new, sharing stories and stirring buried memories as they go.

As they retrace the steps of the seismic summer of 1980, the trio travels the long road back, and around the bends and curves, they may uncover forgotten stories, find personal growth, and perhaps reconcile with the past.