Category: Genre

Hey, Good Luck Out There – Georgia Toews

Full disclosure: Georgia is the daughter of Miriam so great writing may be inherited! This first novel is a gritty story about substance abuse, specifically alcoholism. There is no supportive network for the un-named young woman, not in the 30-day rehab program, not in post-rehab life: mean girls abound throughout. There is a telling phrase on page 107: “I didn’t want to lie, or tell the truth”, a telling dilemma. This is a solitary struggle. What happens when one is alone in a war with an intrusive inner creature? This is a compelling look at someone both vulnerable and brazen.

Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands – Kate Beaton

Ms. Beaton left her Cape Breton home in 2005, to work in the Alberta Oil Sands to pay off her University student loans. The stark black & white drawings in this graphic novel illustrate perfectly her loneliness and isolation, often dealing with overt misogyny in a hyper-masculine environment. And the environmental degradation and rampant capitalism amplify the human cost to the workers. Overall, a compelling coming-of-age narrative.

Between Two Kingdoms: A Memoir of a Life Interrupted – Suleika Jaouad

At age 22, Suleika is diagnosed with a rare form of leukemia. What follows are three years of brutal treatments: extensive chemotherapy, an experimental clinical trial, and a bone marrow transplant. The second half of this honest and insightful book details her “survival”, the transition back to the real world. Her coping strategy is to undertake a 15,000-mile road trip to visit those who sustained her when she was very ill. Cancer forces people to face mortality, and emotions are complicated and often conflicted because suffering makes you selfish. Suleika has to imagine a future that includes anger and fear; her writing is brutally honest and courageous. Thanks Sarah, for this recommendation.

The Mermaid Of Black Conch – Monique Roffey

Aycayia was once an indigenous Taino woman in the Caribbean. What curse transformed her into a mermaid? If she is captured, will she re-transform into a woman? What will be her fate? How are the island lives changed by this phenomenon? This is a great story, no surprise since it is a Heather O’Neill recommendation.

Good Moms On Paper – Edited by Stacy May Fowles and Jen Sookfong Lee

Twenty essays about motherhood by (obviously) women authors: struggles with work-life balance, feeling fraudulent as both mother and writer, and creative compulsion – powerful themes with insightful thoughts. Essays cover both biological and adoptive parenting, new mothers, and relationships with the essayist’s mother. Heather O’Neill writes “being a single mother working on a novel is like asking a clairvoyant to book a ticket on the Titanic – it’s a bad idea”! Highly recommended.

Silverview – John Le Carre

This is Le Carre’s 26th and final novel; he died on 2020-12-12. The story is a reflection on the disillusionment of spies in a fragmented intelligence service. As always, the prose is elegant: “the Avon clan .. was united, not in the secrets they shared, but in the secrets they kept from one another”. Overall, an insightful glimpse into the lonely, secret world of spies by a masterful author.

Fifty-Four Pigs – Philipp Schott

Mystery-crime stories are influenced markedly by context (time and place) and the “amateur sleuth” (think Miss Marple and Jessica Fletcher) is a special genre. This intriguing first novel is about a crime-solving veterinarian in Manitoba who uses logic and his dog Pippin’s remarkable nose to investigate when a swine barn explodes, revealing a murder victim. Totally charming.

Circus of Wonders – Elizabeth Macneal

In Victorian England, the circus featured “human curiosities”, aka the freak show. The “performers” are exploited and objectified but also experience fame as someone no longer relegated to the shadows. There is also an interesting back-story of the Crimean War. A richly detailed historical novel, an enthralling slice of Victoriana.