The story of Irish immigrants to NY tenements in the 1920s. Parents and siblings die in a fire so Niamh/Dorothy/Vivian at age 9 is loaded onto the orphan train and sent to the mid-west for hopeful adoption which generally becomes indentured servitude. The story is told as 1929-1943 flashbacks as the 91 year old Vivian is telling her story in 2011 to a contemporary participant in foster care. Parts of the story have a somewhat predictable Charles Dickensian feel, especially of the sad story of hopeless and cruel care at ages 9-10 but overall this is a very satisfying read.
Author: AJ
Tell by Frances Itani
A beautifully written story in the aftermath of WWI, in particular secrets and silence because of with-holding conversations, and the toxicity of internalizing grief. This is a companion story to Itani’s brilliant earlier novel Deafening. Itani is a Canadian literary treasure.
Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
A brilliant telling of a post-apocalyptic future after a virus rapidly kills >99% of the world’s population. The story alternates between the present which is 20 years after the plague, and the back-story of the key characters. There are some very satisfying inter-relationships between characters that are revealed slowly, including the importance of an unpublished graphic novel. This is an excellent entertaining book.
Amy notes: Later on the CBC Canada Reads long list 2016
The Family Fang – Kevin Wilson
A fascinating story about parents and their two children, where the parents create performance pieces that involve their children as important players. The events are usually in public shopping malls. As adults, the children deal with the aftermath of their strange upbringing. The story is really about the power of art when art is in conflict with life and love.
The Age by Nancy Lee
First novel by a creative writing professor at UBC (her first book was the acclaimed collection of short stories = Dead Girls). The setting of this novel is 1984 Vancouver, a perfect portrayal of protests and terrorism, with a concurrent post-apocalyptic fantasy. Lee describes adolescent recklessness perfectly.
Leaving Tomorrow – David Bergen
This is an insightful and introspective book, typical of Bergen’s novels. The first part of the book is a perfect recounting of growing up in rural Alberta. Arthur describes his influences: isolation, books and school, religion, sibling rivalry, and conversations that leave much more unsaid than stated explicitly. The latter part of the book is a coming-of-age story in Paris. Just an excellent read.
The Bride Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors, Even by Chris F. Westbury
Two men with OCD talk endlessly about art, first discussing a sculpture of Abraham and Isaac/Ishmael. But most of the book is about a road trip to Philadelphia to see the Marcel Duchamp art piece (the title of the book). Thus there is much discussion of Duchamp and his art. This book is a total hoot.
An Untamed State – Roxane Gay
A very tough story about the kidnapping of a young woman (wife/mother) in Haiti and the horrifying aftermath of 13 days in captivity, and her ongoing trauma (classic PTSD) after her release.
The Language Of Flowers – Vanessa Diffenbaugh
This is a brilliant book, one of my best reads in the past 6 months. On one level is is a heart-breaking story of the consequences of growing up in foster care without love and affection, leading to feelings of being unworthy of love and affection (officially, attachment disorder). But this is also a story of redemption through flowers, especially by learning the language of flowers to enhance communication and the understanding of the complexity of relationships. For example, yellow roses means either jealousy or infidelity. The main character, Victoria, is a compelling, angry, destructive and often frustrating character who struggles to forgive and be forgiven. Amazing writing but keep a tissue box nearby!
What David Read 