Books
by Miriam Toews
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All my Puny Sorrows |
A talented, funny, wealthy, successful concert pianist, with a husband who adores her, wants to die. Her younger sister, twice divorced with two kids, sleeping with the wrong men, is torn between trying to keep her beloved sister alive, and helping her to die. Poignancy, interspersed with humour, and beautifully drawn characters, it's a story of two very different sisters, closely bound, who forever keep each other's secrets.
(Polly Sams Plant - bwl 77 Summer 2015) |
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The Flying Troutmans |
While her sister Min is in hospital, depressed, Hattie tries to save Min's children from foster care by driving them from Canada to California in search of their father. A good excuse for a fun road trip in a dodgy van, with the stereotypically monosyllabic fifteen year old boy and a suspiciously knowing and wise-cracking girl of eleven. However, they are highly charismatic and unconventional characters and the trip makes a refreshing and uplifting story.
(Victoria Grey-Edwards - bwl 55 Winter 2011) |
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Women Talking |
Based on a true story of drugged rape by the men of a Mennonite colony, Toews imagines two families of victims planning how to respond without losing their faith: do nothing, stay and fight or leave. With 48 hours to decide before their menfolk return from bailing out their arrested companions they meet secretly in a hayloft and argue back and forth, discovering for the first time in their lives they can make their own decisions. Spellbinding.
(Annabel Bedini - bwl 114 Autumn 2024) |
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