Whale Song is a novel by Canadian

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 author Cheryl Kaye Tardif

Cheryl Kaye Tardif

Cheryl Kaye Tardif is a Canadian mystery writer best known for Canada-based novels Whale Song, Divine Intervention, and The River. Her novels involve social issues such as assisted suicide, school bullies, child abuse, and the search for youth and longevity.-Biography:Tardif was born in Vancouver,...

. Whale Song was first self-published by Trafford Publishing

Trafford Publishing

Trafford Publishing is a publisher using print on demand technology, formerly based in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, and now based in Bloomington, Indiana, USA.-History:...

 in 2003. In the spring of 2006, the novel was picked up by Kunati Inc. Book Publishers, a Canadian publisher with offices in Ontario, Canada, and Florida

Florida

Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...

, US

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. A new edition was released on April 1, 2007.

The new revised and expanded edition of Whale Song features a special dedication to Tardif's brother Jason Kaye who was murder

Murder

Murder is the unlawful killing, with malice aforethought, of another human being, and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...

ed in January 2006. The 2007 trade paperback edition also features a new cover designed by Kunati's graphic artist Kam Wai Yu, creative director for Persona Corp.

Plot summary

Thirteen years prior to the start of the book, Sarah Richardson’s life was shattered after the assisted suicide

Assisted suicide

Assisted suicide is the common term for actions by which an individual helps another person voluntarily bring about his or her own death. "Assistance" may mean providing one with the means to end one's own life, but may extend to other actions. It differs to euthanasia where another person ends...

 of her mother who was battling a debillitating disease. The shocking tragedy left a grief-stricken teen-aged Sarah with partial amnesia

Amnesia

Amnesia is a condition in which one's memory is lost. The causes of amnesia have traditionally been divided into categories. Memory appears to be stored in several parts of the limbic system of the brain, and any condition that interferes with the function of this system can cause amnesia...

. A familiar voice from her past sends Sarah, now a talented mid-twenties advertising

Advertising

Advertising is a form of communication used to persuade an audience to take some action with respect to products, ideas, or services. Most commonly, the desired result is to drive consumer behavior with respect to a commercial offering, although political and ideological advertising is also common...

 executive, back to her buried past.

Torn by nightmares and visions of a yellow-eyed wolf, yet aided by the creatures of the Earth and by the killer whales that call to her in the night, Sarah's life parallels the native legends that were told to her by a wise old native grandmother. In the end, she must face her fears and uncover the truth―even if it destroys her.