Author: Monique (Page 36 of 126)

Lots of good writing exists in Canada, but there are a couple of authors who stand out for me and Miriam Toews is one of them. Maybe I recognize the Prairie sense of humour, or maybe she’s just really good.

Irma Voth is the quirky protagonist of this novel. She’s 19, married, Mennonite and living in Mexico. The problem is that she married a narco Mexican named Jorge who wants her to leave Campo 6.5, and whether he’s a narco or not, her father disapproves of Mexicans, anyone who leaves the campo, and everything his daughters do or want to do.

Quote: If my dad’s assessment was accurate this place was teeming with narcos, and not just the garden-variety narcos but narcosatanics in search of sensations (like Jorge, allegedly), bored with drinking blood from skulls and poised to bolt for bigger thrills while the rest of us were in it for the long haul, working hard and honestly for very little money, the way God meant for us to be. But I didn’t believe it. I think my uncle got a job selling cars in Canada and Wilf wanted to study the violin and my aunt thought it would be cool to get a prm. But who knows. Maybe they’re a family of drug lords now, throwing bodies out of helicopters and bowling with the heads of double-crossers. That would be my father’s theory.

The reclusively of Irma’s Mennonite community makes for some misunderstandings and confusion when a film crew moves in to make a documentary of the community. Irma, already ostracized from her family, is swept up in the madness of the film and hired as a translator for the lead German actress. Her innocence and curiosity is a virtue and a pesky annoyance to those more worldly. What I like about Toews’ writing is that Irma’s ignorance and questioning is more sound than the seemingly insightful musings of the film director, the lead actress, the film crew and Jorge. Irma gets it, even when she doesn’t.

Irma Voth was a fun read. I recommend it for those seeking some light summer reading.
Also available as ebook.

Congratulations to Emma Ruby-Sach on her debut novel, The Water Man’s Daughter. I really enjoyed this mystery. I never think that I am a mystery reader, but there was something about this title in the M&S catalogue that caught my attention. I’m pretty sure it was the bright cover but the description made it sound more like a literary novel than a mystery. I wasn’t disappointed.

This murder mystery takes place in South Africa, and the murdered man is Peter Mathews, a Canadian business man whose company is responsible for the privatization of the water supply in Johannesburg. His murder takes place in one of the townships and is rather grisly.

Claire, his daughter, arrives from Canada hoping to find some answers about what happened. She is put in the care of Nomsulwa, a local activist who dug up the water company pipes only days before the murder. Nomsulwa is tasked with touring Claire about by Zembe Afrika, our third female lead. Zembe is a policewoman in the township and is struggling to balance her community sentiments with her work ambitions.

All three women are fascinating characters and The Water Man’s Daughter is such a great read because of that. Claire is struggling with understanding her personal relationship with her father and her objective understanding of the work he was doing in South Africa. Nomsulwa is struggling with her desire to hate Claire and her water company connections while sympathizing with Claire’s broken allusions of her father. And Zembe is stuck trying to protect those she can in the community while turning a blind eye to injustices that in the end serve the community.

Emma Ruby-Sachs certainly writes like she’s no stranger to publishing novels. The twists and turns had me going until the end.

Congratulations to Emma Ruby-Sach on her debut novel, The Water Man’s Daughter. I really enjoyed this mystery. I never think that I am a mystery reader, but there was something about this title in the M&S catalogue that caught my attention. I’m pretty sure it was the bright cover but the description made it sound more like a literary novel than a mystery. I wasn’t disappointed.

This murder mystery takes place in South Africa, and the murdered man is Peter Mathews, a Canadian business man whose company is responsible for the privatization of the water supply in Johannesburg. His murder takes place in one of the townships and is rather grisly.

Claire, his daughter, arrives from Canada hoping to find some answers about what happened. She is put in the care of Nomsulwa, a local activist who dug up the water company pipes only days before the murder. Nomsulwa is tasked with touring Claire about by Zembe Afrika, our third female lead. Zembe is a policewoman in the township and is struggling to balance her community sentiments with her work ambitions.

All three women are fascinating characters and The Water Man’s Daughter is such a great read because of that. Claire is struggling with understanding her personal relationship with her father and her objective understanding of the work he was doing in South Africa. Nomsulwa is struggling with her desire to hate Claire and her water company connections while sympathizing with Claire’s broken allusions of her father. And Zembe is stuck trying to protect those she can in the community while turning a blind eye to injustices that in the end serve the community.

Emma Ruby-Sachs certainly writes like she’s no stranger to publishing novels. The twists and turns had me going until the end.

This book is as charming as its cover! De Bernieres’ collection of short stories showcases the eccentrics of a fictional English village named Notwithstanding. It’s a wistful look at the village’s inhabitants, who, according to the afterword, are based on De Bernieres’ childhood neighbours in Surrey: “the belligerent spinsters, the naked generals, the fudge-makers, the people who talked to spiders.”

One of my favourite characters is the “hedging and ditching” man who is constantly reflecting on the objects he discovers in the muck of the ditches. “The generally credited rumour was that he was the wealthy scion of an aristocratic family, who hedged and ditched in order to escape the fathomless tedium of an idle life filled with scones and trivial conversations.” Eye roll. Of course. He couldn’t just be a hedging and ditching man.

Then there’s Mrs Mac, who talks to ghosts, and Peter, who catches the Girt Pike, and the auspicious encounters of the famous Notwithstanding wind quartet.

I’m a fan of short stories and these interconnected tales tell a charming and witty history of a handful of quaint villagers who are a curiosity to everyone but themselves.

Notwithstanding by Louis de Bernieres (author of Captain Corelli’s Mandolin)
Published by Vintage

Idaho Winter is one of those books that is going to mess with your mind. The cover makes it seem like it’s a reprint of a book published in the 40s or 50s. The opening scene is reminiscent of Harry Potter, in that Idaho is the boy cramped in a tiny room and unloved by his family, and Back to the Future, where McFly is bullied by Biff. Like Harry Potter, the reader learns what’s happening at the same as Harry does. In this case, the reader learns what’s happening at the same time as the author, who is our narrator and main protagonist, that is once it switches from Idaho. Very post modern. Like Back to the Future, Marty McFly can mess things up and prevent his parents from getting together. In this case, the author, or any character, could, and has, messed things up.

Confused? Let me tell you a little about the story.

Idaho gets beaten up, flees to the river, where he finds Madison, who wants to be his friend, but the kids, dogs and adults of the town chase him down and sic the dogs on him. But the dogs get Madison instead. Then Idaho becomes a giant and there are Mom-bats and secret caves and people turn into chocolate. Not kidding.

Idaho Winter is one of the most bizarre books I’ve ever read. I don’t mean that critically either. Do you know how dream stories are bizarre when told in the light of day? Well, that’s Idaho Winter. Characters morph into other characters. Perspective changes. Landscape shifts and changes. Things that are unexplainable make perfect sense, at the time.

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