Entitlement is the tragic, wrenching story of Andy Kronk. After a lifetime intertwined with the Aspinalls, one of Canada's wealthiest families, Andy has finally forged a clean break. Mere months pass, however, before his past returns, and he finds himself, obediently, digging ... At its heart, Entitlement is a story about identity - about who we think we are and where we really stand. Set in rural Ontario and with excursions to Toronto and New York City, the novel takes a provocative and honest look at class, power, male relationships, death, and the familial bonds that tie, protect and harm us most. Andy's story is revealed to Trudy Clarke. Writing an Aspinall "tell-all" biography, she wants Kronk's take for her book. Reluctantly, Andy agrees to talk. He begins by explaining that when he quit practising law, all he wanted was a clean start and the privacy to live life on his own terms. But, as he explains over the course of a weekend interview, his boyhood boarding school entanglement with one of Canada's elite families became complicated - and remains strong. As the weekend progresses, Andy grows comfortable. When he realizes that he's gone too far, said too much, it's too late... Written in forceful prose, with a poet's ear, Jonathan Bennett's Entitlement does for the world of power and privilege what David Adams Richards has done for the hardscrabble blue collar men and women of his award-winning novels - tearing down myths to reveal something essentially, and always, heartbreakingly human. Jonathan Bennett is the author of the novel After Battersea Park and a collection of short stories, Verandah People, which was runner-up for the Danuta Gleed Literary Award. Bennett's writing has appeared in many periodicals and journals, including The Globe and Mail, Quill & Quire, Antipodes: A North American Journal of Australian Literature, and Descant. He teaches writing at Trent University. Originally from Sydney, Australia, Jonathan now lives in Peterborough, Ontario. Back in the fall Andy Kronk escaped north to this cottage on Broad Lake. At the time of purchase he'd brimmed with renovation plans and enthusiasm, levelling the foundation, painting, and calling a local contractor to come by and quote on installing a new septic tank. He had been in no hurry for this last expense. The trudge to the outhouse was onerous, not unbearable. Rustic charm. He'd planned on doing it in another year. But then, in the winter, his needs abruptly changed. When can you begin work? he'd asked the man on the phone. Good few more weeks yet, said the contractor. The ground's frozen pretty deep out by you. Lots of rock too. Be hard going if we don't wait. To Andy, the gruff man sounded bearlike, not yet willing to emerge from hibernation. Please, said Andy, as soon as you can. Freezin' yer arse off, eh? said the contractor. Andy let the weak joke stand. And while the long nights still assuredly fell below zero, last week he opened the side door of his cottage after lunch and in the air there was a change. The sky was light blue, the sun fragile but warm. There was no wind. He stood still enjoying the peace. Then faintly, he heard a sound. He waited. There, again. And again. He walked toward it. From the corner of his cottage, through a small hole in the eavestrough, a single drop of water slowly bulged then dripped. The temperature was above freezing. Soon the contractor could begin work. Were he still in Toronto, weather like this would be cause for celebration. After months of truculent winter, this advance taste of spring would prompt him, along with several other lawyers, to go in search of a restaurant with a patio. There they would join the swell of rapt Torontonians heading outdoors. They would loosen their ties, roll the cuffs of their white dress shirts a turn or two, put on sunglasses, sit under gas-powered heaters, and sip at tall glasses of blond beer. They wo

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