This is a deceptively simple and subtle book about family. The key characters are siblings, Danny and Maeve. There are some astonishing acts of cruelty in their early life but also acts of transcendent kindness. Danny is someone who lacks introspection – he commits to a task like learning chemistry with dogged determination; liking the subject is irrelevant. Unfortunately, he applies the same approach to his relationships, i.e. his wife, so love and happiness are non-factors in his relationships. His true happiness is only expressed to and with Maeve. Consequently, forgiveness is difficult for him, a fact that will complicate his life. Like most of Patchett’s writing, this is very fine story-telling.
Category: family
Watching You Without Me – Lynn Coady
Karen, recently divorced, returns to her childhood home in Nova Scotia after her mother’s death, to care for her developmentally-disabled sister. Karen is understandably over-whelmed with grief and the difficult care of her sister. Thus she gratefully accepts extra assistance from Trevor, one of her sisters care-givers. So she is susceptible to manipulation and Trevor is a master manipulator. Accordingly, this is a masterful and entirely creepy character study of human frailty.
Daughter of Family G – Ami McKay
Simply put, this is an amazing book. Ms. McKay is an excellent novelist (The Birth House, The Virgin Cure, Witches of New York). Her new book is a memoir with a unique context. Her great-great-aunt, Pauline Gross, confided to a pathology professor in 1895 that she expected to die young because she had observed a very strong family history of cancer. This statement led to a cancer genealogy study that ultimately resulted in the discovery of a gene mutation that creates a devastating cancer susceptibility, now known as Lynch Syndrome. Part of the book imagines the lives of Pauline and sister Tillie, the direct ancestor of Ms. McKay. Along this history, there are some dedicated physician-scientists but the ugly reality of eugenics is part of this quest. Much of the book is deeply personal since Ms. McKay also has the Lynch Syndrome mutation. What thought process informs the decision to undergo genetic screening? How does one live with this knowledge, with implications for your children (there is a 50% risk of transmitting the mutation)? And finally, there is Ami’s deeply moving and loving relationship with her mother so this is also a memoir of love and fate, tremendous family resilience, the link between the genes we inherit and the life we choose. This is a fantastic read.
Split Tooth – Tanya Tagaq
Ms. Tagaq is an Inuit throat singer and Polaris Prize winner in 2014. She can now add author to her artistic gifts. This is a remarkable first novel. There is the often difficult reality of living in Nunavut as a young person: endless summer sunshine, the dark and brutally cold winter, and human difficulties like substance and sexual abuse. And there is a magical imaginary component, sometimes based on dreams. Ms. Tagaq’s prose is accompanied by graphic poems and a few illustrations. Highly imaginative writing.
The Homecoming – Andrew Pyper
This story begins simply with the reading of the will of an often absent and thus mysterious husband/father. But there is an unusual condition in the will: the family must live for a month in an isolated forest lodge in the Pacific Northwest before they can inherit a substantial estate. What could go wrong? And there are surprises. And more surprises that increasingly seem sinister, until secrets produce fear and much more. Is every part of the Quinlan family life a fabrication? Brilliant writing.
Dual Citizens – Alix Ohlin
Regular readers of this book blog know that I have a specific affection for introspective relationship books. This book by Ms. Ohlin is a perfect read, in my opinion. The story enters on two sisters, Lark and Robin, from their early childhood in Montreal and their complicated relationship with their mother Marianne, to adulthood in New York and the Laurentians. Lark is the main character, someone who hopes that silence will produce invisibility. The story contains vivid descriptions of art, music and film, motherhood and even wolves. The writing is divine; highly recommended.
Chop Suey Nation – Ann Hui
There are two parts to this book. The first is a cross-Canada road trip to visit Chinese-Canadian restaurants that feature the ubiquitous but non-traditional chop suey dish. This epic trip begins in Victoria and concludes with a memorable visit to a one-person Chinese restaurant in Fogo Island, NL. Just the encounter with Newfoundlanders would make this book with reading. But the second part of the book is the story of the author’s father, his early life in China and eventual immigration to Canada. At its core, this is a moving treatment of parental sacrifice. A great read.
Everything Under – Daisy Johnson
This is a really excellent novel set in contemporary England. The core of the story is a complicated mother-daughter relationship but it is much more: the use of a private language and a river creature and supplemental characters. The timeline is an interesting feature of the story telling. Johnson’s writing reminds me of Sarah Winman, so high praise.
Stay With Me – Ayobami Adebayo
This is a powerful story set in Nigeria, 1985-2008. The story centres on a couple, Yejide and Akin, who are struggling with infertility against the background of profound traditional family pressure to have children. A loving relationship is tested by lies and a stunning betrayal. What will we sacrifice for family? The story involves very strong emotions with Nigerian political instability as a constant background force. Very fine writing. This book is also from a VPL list of “books that broke our hearts”.
