A classic “coming of age” story, Providence Island begins in the present moment of adult Carrier’s fragmenting life in the United States. In Providence Island, the flash-back device  gives Robinson a good means for portraying what Muskoka was like a half-century ago in contrast to what it has become today, thanks to the potency of contrast.  

- from “Muskoka Bookshelf”, review of Providence Island by J. Patrick Boyer, Muskoka Magazine

 

As a social class and wealth still wield immense power and no doubt always will, Providence Island is well worth reading, not only for its critical perspective, but also for its trenchant descriptions of young people trying to find their place in the world.

- from Fitzgerald in Ontario’s cottage country, review of Providence Island by Candace Fertile, Globe and Mail, July 3, 2011

 

Providence Island by Gregor Robinson, explores the early influences, often unacknowledged, that shapes the adults we become.

- Janet Armstrong, The Muskokan

 

...a tale of love, lust, and long-buried secrets that will keep your mind churning for weeks after you’ve turned the last page.

- Oakland Ross, journalist and author of Guerilla Beach, A Fire on the Mountains, The Dark Virgin

 

Ray Carrier's innocent summer seduction into a world of money and class privilege is in for a traumatic revision as he returns in middle age to the now murky Muskoka backwaters of his youth. Gregor Robinson's rich and colourful narrative puts him alongside a handful of the best fiction writers in Canada today.

- Jeff Rubin, Award winning author of the number one National Bestseller Why Your World Is About To Get A Whole Lot Smaller.

 

Gregor Robinson’s wonderful new novel, Providence Island, magically recreates the mystery and romance of summers spent in the green paradise of Ontario’s Muskoka region in the 1960s. His prose has perfect pitch….a lyrical journey, with echoes of The Great Gatsby.

- Tony Hawke, a 46 year veteran of the Canadian publishing industry

 

In this gripping novel, when his father’s funeral brings Ray Carrier back to cottage country, where he spent summers as a child, memories of the past – like the mystery surrounding a terrible death – keep him from leaving again.

-  Cottage Life magazine, Shelf Life Column, March issue, 2011

 

On Writing, with Gregor Robinson

- Open Book Toronto, June 24, 2011

 

The past and what we do about it

-  Gary Curtis, Hamilton Spectator, April 8, 2011

 

Providence Island Review

-  Cecilia-Anca Popescu, Quick Brown Fox Blog, March 22, 2011

 

If you haven’t yet snapped up a copy of Gregor Robinson’s The Dream King yet, do it now…. The publication of this brilliant debut collection … establishes him at the forefront of a young generation of writers, like Stephen Heighton and Cynthia Flood, who are masters of the form.

– from Transcending the limits of the everyday, review of The Dream King, by John Moore, The Vancouver Sun, March 1998

 

I loved these stories because they look at men’s lives the way women look at their own.…A wonderful negotiation between artlessness and control. Robinson is often very funny, especially on the baffling gulf between generations.

– from The risks of examined lives, review of The Dream King, by Joan Thomas, The Globe and Mail, November 1997

 

Robinson subtly infuses the book with this theme of paradise/hell, surface depth, inside/outside, civilized/primitive….A cast of concisely drawn, memorable characters….Robinson has a highly refined ear for dialogue. The book passes with an almost imperceptible fluidity for the simple fact that the dialogue is utterly natural and believable.

– from Banker goes native in the Caribbean, review of Hotel Paradiso, by Mark Frutkin, The Globe and Mail, October 2000

 

Robinson is an extremely talented and respected short story writer…His wonderfully lucid prose and keen sense of dialogue, coupled with a proven ability on the smaller canvas, bodes well.

- Toronto Star, 2001 

 

In its depiction of Pigeon Cay and the colourful characters that populate it, Hotel Paradiso is consistently entertaining.

- The Edmonton Journal, January 2001

 

Robinson’s writing shows the control and focus of a fine storyteller.

- Quill & Quire, November 2000

 

Each piece is carefully crafted – it is not a stretch to see why five of the fourteen stories have been nominated for major awards

- Malahat Review, 1998