Robot by the River

For twenty-two-year-old Julia, just out of college, Vancouver has become a social wasteland. Her boyfriend has gone off to London to study art history, leaving her feeling abandoned in the not-quite-derelict historic apartment where she is alone - surrounded by people. While working a series of odd jobs, Julia inadvertently befriends Oliver, one of her aloof neighbors. Together, they attempt to cope with the increasing fragmentation of life in the new millennium, in this nostalgic narrative by Journey Prize-finalist Doretta Lau.