A Truce That Is Not Peace – Miriam Toews

This exceptional book is hard to describe – a stream-of-consciousness memoir, perhaps, featuring electrifying honesty. There are questions like why does she write? There are letters to a silent sister. And there is profound melancholy when acknowledging the suicides of her father and sister (Page 31: “I was crazy with grief, guilt and dread”). But there are very funny excerpts about a European trip in 1988, and hilarious observations about the current domestic life in her multi-generational Toronto home. Bottom line- this is a powerful story that is both heart wrenching and joyful, in other words, Ms. Toews at her best.