Saturday, July 31, 2021

Yours Cheerfully by AJ Pearce

A special thank you to to Simon & Schuster Canada for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.  

London, November 1941. Following the departure of the formidable Henrietta Bird from Woman’s Friend magazine, things are looking up for Emmeline Lake as she takes on the challenge of becoming a young wartime advice columnist. Her relationship with boyfriend Charles (now stationed back in the UK) is blossoming, while Emmy’s best friend Bunty, still reeling from the very worst of the Blitz, is bravely looking to the future. Together, the friends are determined to Make a Go of It.

When the Ministry of Information calls on Britain’s women’s magazines to help recruit desperately needed female workers to the war effort, Emmy is thrilled to be asked to step up and help. But when she and Bunty meet a young woman who shows them the very real challenges that women war workers face, Emmy must tackle a life-changing dilemma between doing her duty and standing by her friends.

A light and endearing read, Yours Cheerfully is the second book in the Emmy Lake Chronicles. Pearce deftly balances the struggles and brutality of war with lightheartedness and wit. It is a glimpse into the realities and challenges women faced during wartime.  

Pearce's expressions and capitalization of phrases such as "The Unfortunate Hiccup" or "In It Together" both punctuates her points and is a compliment to the 1940s. Her characters are vivid, endearing, and just plain likeable. Pearce pays homage to the women of this time—their spirit, their unwavering support, and how they stepped up wherever they were needed while their men were away.  

Yours Cheerfully is equally as charming and enjoyable as Dear Mrs. Bird. It is a delightful and humorous read about the women on the homefront and the importance of female friendship.   

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AJ PEARCE studied at the University of Sussex and Northwestern University. A chance discovery of a 1939 women’s magazine became the inspiration for her international bestseller, Dear Mrs. Bird, the first novel in The Emmy Lake Chronicles series. 

Pearce lives in the south of England.

Thursday, July 29, 2021

Undersong by Kathleen Winter

A special thank you to Penguin Random House Canada for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

When young James Dixon, a local jack-of-all-trades recently returned from the Battle of Waterloo, meets Dorothy Wordsworth, he's never met another woman like her. In her early thirties, Dorothy has lived an unconventional life. As her famous brother William's confidante and creative collaborator—considered by some in their circle to be the secret to his success as a poet--she has carved a seemingly idyllic life for herself, alongside William and his wife, in England's Lake District.

Dixon is approached by William to do some handiwork around the estate, but he quickly understands that his real responsibility is to keep an eye on Dorothy, who is growing frail and melancholic. The pair form a strong bond, and soon Dixon is witness to the everyday life of this extraordinary family and their unusual circle (which includes Samuel Coleridge, Thomas de Quincy, William Blake, and Charles and Mary Lamb).

Through the fictional voice of James Dixon we are witness to inside the Wordsworth family with its scintillating emotional and artistic struggles, hidden traumas, private betrayals, and triumphs. But Winter also weaves a darker, complex "undersong" through the novel, gradually bringing into the light Dorothy's rich and hidden life, and revealing the surprising meaning and effect of her tragically unacknowledged brilliance.

Undersong is a reimagining the lost years of misunderstood Romantic Era genius Dorothy "Rotha" Wordsworth. Winter chooses to tell Rotha's story through a servant, but will leave her reader feeling disconnected. 

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KATHLEEN WINTER's novel Annabel was shortlisted for the Scotiabank Giller Prize, the Governor General's Literary Award, the Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize, the Amazon.ca First Novel Award, the Orange Prize, and numerous other awards. It was also a Globe and Mail "Best Book," a New York Times "Notable" book, a Quill & Quire "Book of the Year" and #1 bestseller in Canada. It has been published and translated worldwide. Her Arctic memoir Boundless (2014) was shortlisted for Canada's Weston and Taylor non-fiction prizes, and her last novel Lost in September (2017) was longlisted for the International Dublin Literary Award and was a finalist for the Governor General's Literary Award. 

Winter was born in the UK, Winter now lives in Montreal after many years in Newfoundland.

Tuesday, July 27, 2021

The Therapist by B. A. Paris

A special thank you to St. Martin's Press and Raincoast Books for a finished copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

When Alice and Leo move into a newly renovated house in The Circle, a gated community of exclusive houses, it is everything they’ve dreamed of. But appearances can be deceptive…

As Alice is getting to know her neighbours, she discovers a devastating secret about her new home, and begins to feel a strong connection with Nina, the therapist who lived there before.

Alice becomes obsessed with trying to piece together what happened two years before. But no one wants to talk about it. Her neighbours are keeping secrets and things are not as perfect as they seem…

Paris weaves an insidious web of lies in this gripping psychological thriller about a house with a shocking secret. Alternating between Alice in the present and a therapist in the past, the novel takes a deep dive into obsession and trust. 

Alice initially comes off as the all too familiar unreliable female narrator that is bordering on being crazy.  Early on in the story, we know that she is affected by an event in her past which has made her somewhat of a recluse—she is deeply attached to her village, her friends, and her cottage—and although she is apprehensive about moving to London, she is excited to be living with Leo. Even though she naive, and exhibits obsessive behaviour, her intentions are only good. Bust as the story unfolds it becomes apparent that she is not the unreliable narrator as originally perceived to be.

Perfectly paced, expertly plotted, The Therapist is Paris at her best. 

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B. A. PARIS is the internationally bestselling author of The DilemmaBehind Closed DoorsThe Breakdown, and Bring Me Back. She has worked both in finance and as a teacher and has five daughters. The Therapist is her fifth novel.


Paris grew up in England, but has spend most of her adult life in France.

Monday, July 26, 2021

Once More, With Feeling by Sophie McCreesh

A special thank you to Penguin Random House Canada for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Once More, With Feeling follows Jane, an artist navigating her closest relationships while fixating on her own perceived failures and self-imposed isolation. When Jane receives a student grant to attend a workshop in London, England, she sees the opportunity to leave her tedious life behind and start anew, bringing along her new friend Kitty, who Jane will not admit she has little in common with other than a shared appreciation for boxed wine and various other drugs.

In London, Jane struggles to improve both her craft and her mindset while Kitty thrives, and a once exciting trip abroad transforms the already uneven dynamic of their friendship, leaving Jane feeling more withdrawn than ever. As her increasingly destructive behaviour gets in the way of her artistic ambitions, her most important relationships--those with Kitty, her absent lover Richard and a discredited therapist named Anna--begin to deteriorate as Jane starts to examine her growing dependence on substances.

Darkly funny, piercing and tender, Once More, With Feeling is a portrait of a detached young woman trapped in the perils of self-loathing and addiction, who is searching for originality in an age of profound social disconnection and anxiety.

In the vein of smart, deadpan, and unrepentant novels such as The New Me and My Year of Rest and Relaxation, Sophie McCreesh's distinctive and striking debut novel is about a young woman veering towards self-destruction. 

Jane, our protagonist, is incredibly complex and extremely detached. She is struggling to find her place in the world and seems to think that this is achieved through masochism and we are witness to her dizzying descent. 

The overall conversational tone serves the novel well and the writing is solid. But the plot is slow-moving and nothing actually happens. McCreesh is witty and there are some clever bits, although her humour does take some getting used to. 

With its arresting cover, Once More, With Feeling is morose, moody, and poignant. This book will find its niche audience and resonate with it. 

SOPHIE MCCREESH is a fiction writer whose writing has appeared in Cosmonauts Avenue, Hobart, Bad Nudes and elsewhere. 

McCreesh resides in Toronto.

Sunday, July 25, 2021

Her Turn by Katherine Ashenburg

A special thank you to Penguin Random House Canada for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.  

Ashenburg's latest is about a journalist who stumbles into an unusual relationship with the woman who broke up her marriage. At first glance, Liz appears to have a fulfilled life: she has a good relationship with her adult son, her own apartment, an active dating life, and is the editor of "My Turn," a popular newspaper column where readers submit personal essays. But Liz is actually resentful of her ex-husband because he cheated on her, is emotionally unavailable to her suitors, and involved with a married man. And to make matters worse, her correspondence with her ex-husband's wife—the woman who he had an affair with—is bordering on unethical and could get her fired. 

Liz is complex and layered. She thinks she is managing her deep-seated resentment towards her ex but it is seeping into all of her relationships, including the most important one, which is with her son. Her inability to move past what Sydney did makes her emotionally unavailable to her suitors, pushing her towards a man who is married and another who is a complete narcissist. While it is refreshing to read about someone in their late forties, Liz is not overly likeable and ultimately loses the plot literally and figuratively. 

Her Turn is character-driven novel that explores one woman's second act in life while she's still tethered to the first. It is a story about infidelity, forgiveness, and taking a chance.

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KATHERINE ASHENBURG has worked as an academic, a CBC Radio producer and the Arts and Books editor of the Globe and Mail. She has written about travel for the New York Times and architecture for Toronto Life magazine. Her books include Going to Town: Architectural Walking Tours of Southern Ontario Towns, The Mourner’s Dance: What We Do When People Die, The Dirt on Clean: An Unsanitized History, and the novel Sofie & Cecilia. Her Turn is her second novel.

Ashenburg lives in Toronto.

Saturday, July 24, 2021

Where the Truth Lies by Anna Bailey

A special thank you to Edelweiss and Simon & Schuster Canada for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. 

The town of Whistling Ridge guards its secrets.

When 17-year-old Abigail goes missing, her best friend Emma, compelled by the guilt of leaving her only friend alone at the Tall Bones party that night, sets out to find the truth about what happened to Abi. But as the details unfold, the festering secrets and longstanding resentments of the people of Whispering Ridge, Colorado, begin to surface with devastating consequences.

Among those secrets are those harboured by the members of Abi's family: her older brother Noah, who has an unworldly yet horribly dangerous love for the handsome Rat, a Romanian immigrant who recently entered town; her 12-year-old brother Jude, who is filled with a shining goodness yet walks with a stick because his father threw him down the stairs while their mother Dolly turned away; and, Dolly, who married the bible-bashing Samuel on a whim, and now, with a frozen heart, watches her children unravel. 

When a teenaged girl disappears from an insular small town, all of the community’s most devastating secrets come to light. Filled with stereotypic characters, Where the Truth Lies is a slow burn character-driven mystery that is not quite worthy of your patience. 

Bailey's use of flashback for her big reveal is anticlimactic—the story doesn't feel fully fleshed out. Although she captures the small town dynamic and the difficult lives of her characters, Bailey misses the mark. The shifting perspectives and time periods are problematic, they interrupted the flow of the story and the reader is left dependant on what feels more like hearsay versus what actually happened.  The chapters are short and jarring, again, interrupting any cohesiveness. 

Where the Truth Lies is dark and atmospheric, crushing and claustrophobic.


ANNA BAILEY studied Creative Writing at Bath Spa University and wanted to be a journalist, but ended up moving to Colorado and becoming a Starbucks barista instead. In 2018, she returned to the UK where she enrolled in the Curtis Brown Creative novel-writing course and wrote her first novel Tall Bones, inspired by her time in the US. 

Bailey currently lives in Cheltenham, where she writes for Cotswold Life and Good On Paper magazines.

Sunday, July 18, 2021

Safe in My Arms by Sara Shepard

A special thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Dutton for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Andrea, Lauren, and Ronnie all see themselves as good, loving moms who are trying their best, but they each arrive at the Welcome Breakfast for the Silver Swans preschool with something to hide. Andrea is running away from a past on the East Coast; Lauren is recovering from a postpartum condition her husband has warned her not to disclose; and Ronnie is hiding herself and her daughter from the one man who could appear at any moment and ruin their lives. The women already feel like impostors among the school’s community of polished parents. But then after the first day of school, they each get a note in their  children’s backpacks, notes that indicate that someone knows their deepest, darkest secrets and needs them gone. Does someone not want them in the community? Or is it something more menacing—does someone know everything? 

When the principal of the school is the victim of an almost-fatal attack, it quickly becomes clear that the Silver Swans community is not as flawless as the brochures and website would have you believe. The three moms must band together to uncover the school’s many secrets before the other suspicious parents and town police close in and use their outsider status to blame them...and before they lose what they have worked so hard for. 

In Safe in My Arms, Shepard dispatches too many red herring characters right out of the gate that are impossible to keep track of, and the narrative never quite recovers. She relies on the exhausted, overdone, and all too familiar trope of a woman who can't rely on her memory and comes off as hysterical and unreasonable. And although this is a high-drama type mystery, the characters are exaggerated and unlikable, with the exception of Andrea (refreshing to have a trans character as one of the main characters in a novel). 

Based on the Epilogue and Author's Note, the theme of the book is that it is a challenge to be a mother, to be the "best" or "perfect," but that you should accept where you are and cut yourself some slack. But it is confusing that the vehicle for these messages are characters that could not only benefit from hearing this, but are terrible role models. 

Unfortunately, Shepard misses the mark with this one. 


SARA SHEPARD is the author of two New York Times bestselling series, Pretty Little Liars and The Lying Game, as well as the series The Perfectionists. She is a graduate from New York University and holds an MFA from Brooklyn College. 

Sunday, July 11, 2021

All the Lonely People by Mike Gayle

A special thank you to Libro.fm and Hachette Audio for an audiobook listening copy, and Grand Central Publishing for a finished copy of the book.

Told through alternating timelines of then and now, we follow the captivating life story of Hubert Bird. 

Like his best friend Gus, Hubert immigrated from Jamaica for a better life in England. He wasn't prepared for the weather, the food, and the people—it wasn't always easy being a Black immigrant. But when he meets the love of his life, it all becomes worth it. As an interracial couple, Joyce and Hubert face many challenges but with their abundant love, they raise two children and have a home of their own.

After losing Joyce, Hubert is alone in his golden years. So in his weekly phone calls to his daughter, Rose, he embellishes his life—his stories are so elaborate that he has to keep notes. But when Rose surprises him with the news that she's finally coming to visit, Hubert is left scrambling to make real friends, and fast! 

With the help of his neighbour, Ashleigh, a single mother from Wales, Hubert manages to pull off the impossible and make lots of friends. But with the origin of his earlier isolation always lurking, will he ever get to live the life he's pretended to have for so long?

All the Lonely People is utterly charming, and full of heart. With compounding emotions of love and loss, it is also a comment on race and relationships. 

Hubert's life with Joyce was central to his being and his grief is isolating. And although the loneliness he experiences diminishes his character, his heart stays open just enough to make connections and find purpose again.

Gayle is an incredibly engaging writer and in spite of his main character being abrasive at times, there is a gentleness about the story. All of his characterizations are strong—his cast is as diverse as they are endearing. They are a true testament that ordinary people can make an extraordinary difference. 

All the Lonely People celebrates a life well lived. Highly recommend!


MIKE GAYLE has written for a variety of publications including the Sunday Times, the Guardian, and Cosmo. He is the author of thirteen novels, which have been translated into more than thirty languages. 

Gayle resides in Birmingham with his wife, two kids, and a rabbit.

Thursday, July 8, 2021

Where the Grass Is Green and the Girls Are Pretty by Lauren Weisberger

A special thank you to Goodreads First Reads for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. 

A seat at the anchor desk of the most-watched morning show. Recognized by millions across the country, thanks in part to her flawless blond highlights and Botox-smoothed skin. An adoring husband and a Princeton-bound daughter. Peyton is that woman. She has it all.

Until . . .

Skye, her sister, is a stay-at-home mom living in a glitzy suburb of New York. She has degrees from all the right schools and can helicopter-parent with the best of them. But Skye is different from the rest. She’s looking for something real and dreams of a life beyond the PTA and pickup.

Until . . .

Max, Peyton’s bright and quirky seventeen-year-old daughter, is poised to kiss her fancy private school goodbye and head off to pursue her dreams in film. She’s waited her entire life for this opportunity.

Until . . .

One little lie. That’s all it takes. For the illusions to crack. For resentments to surface. Suddenly the grass doesn’t look so green. And they’re left wondering: will they have what it takes to survive the truth?

Where the Grass Is Green and the Girls Are Pretty is highly entertaining and completely addictive. With its clever title, this book is witty and indulgent. 

Weisberger's latest is about two sisters perfect lives and their perfect lies. Peyton and Skye are very different, but equally as intriguing. Inspired by her own younger sister and its ripped from the headlines plot, this novel is a comment on entitlement, helicopter parenting, and the expectations that are placed on women (even by themselves) to maintain their youthful appearance—why don't women just age gracefully anymore?  

Perfect for discussing with your girlfriends, or mom groups, over your favourite cocktails! Cheers, Lauren!       

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LAUREN WEISBERGER is the New York Times bestselling author of The Devil Wears Prada, which was published in forty languages and made into a major motion picture starring Meryl Streep and Anne Hathaway. Her books—When Life Gives You Lululemons, The Singles Game, Everyone Worth Knowing, Chasing Harry Winston, Last Night at Chateau Marmont, and Revenge Wears Prada—have sold more than thirteen million copies worldwide. 

Weisberger lives in Connecticut with her husband and two children. 

Monday, July 5, 2021

The Hunted by Roz Nay

A special thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster Canada for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Stevie Erickson is looking for a fresh start after the sudden loss of her grandmother sends her life into a tailspin. It has surfaced old losses and put a strain on her relationship with her boyfriend, Jacob. So when Jacob is offered a job as a diver for GoEco on Rafiki, a beautiful, secluded island off the coast of Tanzania, he convinces Stevie to go with him. A fresh start is just what they need. 

Their trip gets off to a rough start with a nighttime scare at their first hostel. Already fragile, Stevie can’t seem to shake the feeling that she’s being watched. Things improve when they meet seasoned backpackers Leo and Tamsin, an attractive couple who instantly take a shine to Stevie and Jacob.

But on Rafiki Island, their new friendship is put to the test, as is Stevie and Jacob’s relationship. When the  innocent flirting goes too far, past truths surface which expose a killer in their midst—a killer whose sights are set on Stevie.

With the premise of a friendship that quickly turns to obsession with deadly consequences, Roz Nay's latest work delivers on so many levels. The Hunted is slick and propulsive, a chilling page-turner that can easily be devoured in one sitting.

The vivid, yet surprisingly claustrophobic setting has the characters seeing some of the most remote beaches in Africa. Drawing on her own time spent there working at dive camps, Nay is an expert guide to her reader. Always impressive is how polished her writing is.  

Perfectly paced, expertly plotted, The Hunted is gripping from the first page. Written from Stevie and Leo's perspective, this high-octane thriller is full of shocking twists. It kicks off with an absolutely explosive Prologue and builds to its stunning conclusion. 

Nay expertly spins an insidious web that captures her reader in a tale of suspense, obsession, and deception. This escapist novel is as menacing as it is beautiful—a must-read this summer. 


ROZ NAY is the award winning bestselling author of Our Little Secret and Hurry Home

Nay has lived and worked in Africa, Australia, the US, and the UK. She lives in British Columbia, Canada with her husband and two children.


Q & A with Roz Nay*

GWR: Describe your ideal writing/reading experience (when, where, what, how).

RN: For me, the ideal writing experience is at home, in an empty house, with my dog at my feet. That doesn't seem to be asking a lot, but it's actually a surprisingly rare occurrence :) I write best between 9am and 12pm, but find that I have to get up early a lot and write from 5am - 7am because I still have a day job.

GWR: How did you come up with the concept for The Hunted?

RN: I knew I wanted to write a more 'exotic' thriller set in a travel destination, and that I wanted it to be about two couples who meet on vacation. I actually pitched the very beginning of the idea to my good friend, Chevy Stevens, while we were sitting on beach loungers in Arizona. It was the most fun pitch ever. We lay in the sunshine and hashed out the early sketches of who these people might be and what they wanted.

GWR: What comes first for you—the overall idea or the characters?

RN: I'd say setting always comes first, along with the major characters. Then I have to figure out what's wrong with these people! And usually that leads me to the dark twists and turns of the plot. Once I know who I'm dealing with, I can start to see what they'd do and why.

GWR: What’s “the story behind the story,” the inspiration for The Hunted

RN: When I was 21, I travelled to a tiny dive camp off the coast of Tanzania—the very one that's the main setting for the book. Everything in The Hunted is based on things I remember from that adventure. It's so close to autobiographical, except that obviously I inserted a thriller plotline. I'm finding, in general, that the questionable decisions I made travelling in my twenties are now perfect material for travel thrillers. I'm trying to make a career out of them :)

GWR: Do you build your story around a twist/reveal, or does that happen as you write?

RN: I might know early plot points—the big moments in the arc, like the midpoint turn etc. But in general, the twists occur to me as I go and I might have to go back in the draft and amend the start so that I can accommodate them.

GWR: What is the most surprising thing about being an author?

RN: Apart from actually BEING one, you mean? :) I never thought I had a book in me, and now I'm working on my fourth. For me, it's been a journey of realizing I can do it. That's still the biggest surprise. 

GWR: Is there a particular author/work that inspired you to become a writer or the way you write? 

RN: Early inspiration was John Fowles' creepy book The Collector, which I read when I was 16 and never truly got over. Now I read Lisa Jewell for how to tell a psych thriller brilliantly, and I'm discovering new writers I admire all the time. This year's find so far is Who Is Maud Dixon? by Alexandra Andrews.

GWR: What draws you to darker themes?

RN: I've thought about this a bit, and I think it's the fact that my real life is secure and lucky enough that I can go looking under rocks for creepier things without it swamping me. I'm interested in the darker versions of ourselves that we never/rarely bring to light. If we were all put in a certain pressure cooker, with a very specific set of circumstances, how many of us would unravel? I find that continuously interesting.

GWR: If your book was a beverage, what would it be?

RN: Funny question! Something that's sweetly delicious at the start, and then seems to turn on you ... a sharp aftertaste? Let's go with a Gin Sour.

GWR: Can you share what you are working on now?

RN: I'm currently working on another travel thriller, this one set in Australia aboard a private (slightly run-down) sailboat. It's about two backpacking girls who take a crew job on a boat heading north into the tropics, only to find out that the other three people onboard might have their own reasons for being there... Just like with The Hunted, this book is pretty closely autobiographical. I'm waiting to see if it gets signed, and then I'll tell you more :)

*A version of this post was published on STYLE Canada.  

Sunday, July 4, 2021

The Relatives by Camilla Gibb

A special thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Random House Canada for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Lila is on a long, painful journey toward motherhood. Tess and Emily are reeling after their ugly separation and fighting over ownership of the embryos that were supposed to grow their family together. And thousands of miles away, the unknown man who served as anonymous donor to them all is being held in captivity in Somalia. While his life remains in precarious balance, his genetic material is a source of both creation and conflict.

What does it mean to be a family in our rapidly shifting world? What are our responsibilities to each other with increasing options for how to create a family?

Told from three different perspectives, each storyline is interesting, and rich in detail and compassion. The characters in The Relatives, are struggling with life-altering changes—Gibb skillfully connects them while exploring what family means to each of them. They are a complex, flawed, and unique cast. With characters that are polarized—some want to become parents while others want no part—Gibb examines how although we are a product of our own families and upbringing, we can make the choice of creating our own families to meet our needs and to find where we belong. Blood relations are so revered, but what happens to those of us when our blood relations are so hurtful, or unavailable? And what exactly makes a parent—how much is biology and how much is relationship? 

There is a discomfort about The Relatives. The characters are searching for meaning and trying to connect with their histories because of their existential loneliness—something is missing, whether it's their lost history, or a misplaced sense of self. A feeling of dislocation and being separated from family (death of a parent, divorce, adoption) permeates the novel. 

Lila, a social worker, was adopted as a young child. She never knew her biological parents, other than her mother was a teenaged refugee who committed suicide two years after Lila was born. She struggles with issues of abandonment and addiction—it permeates all aspects of her life, including at her job where she wants to rescue the children that she works with. After losing both of her adoptive parents, she yearns to have a family of her own and this desire puts her job on the line once again when she oversteps by getting close to the young girl who was found wandering in High Park. 

Adam is kidnapped after falling in love and he associates the two and thinks of love as a weakness. He is opaque to himself and compartmentalizes his identities (his two names). His life is contained to the rooms he finds himself in—in Somolia he’s in a room for a year, then he is in a hospital, and then a condo in California. Even being forced to see a therapist he finds himself in another room and at the very beginning of the novel, he is in the bottom of a well. He’s an outsider in every room who is trapped by circumstances and himself. Adam just wants to be free. 

Another character that is feeling misplaced is Tessa. She is trying to redefine herself as Tess, is unsure in her gender and doesn’t know how she’s going to be read in this environment. 

What is apparent is that a book does not have to be long in order to pack a punch, or give its reader much to think about. And quite simply, Camilla Gibb is a gift. Her writing is original, layered and empathetic.  The Relatives is a timely novel about what it means to be family in a modern world and I highly recommend.

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CAMILLA GIBB is the author of six novels: The RelativesMouthing the WordsThe Petty Details of So-and-so's LifeSweetness in the BellyThe Beauty of Humanity Movement and This is Happy. She has also been the recipient of the Trillium Book Award, the City of Toronto Book Award and the CBC Canadian Literary Award and shortlisted for the Scotiabank Giller Prize.

Camilla has a Ph.D. from Oxford University and is an adjunct faculty member of the graduate creative writing programs at the University of Toronto and the University of Guelph-Humber. She is currently the June Callwood Professor in Social Justice at Victoria College, University of Toronto.


Q & A with Camilla Gibb*

GWR: It’s always interesting to hear about an author’s writing process—how many hours a day do you write? Are you a pantser/gardner or a plotter/architect?

CG: I’ve never been a plotter. I seem to need to write my way toward knowing what a story is about.  When I was younger, I would spend all day at it. Now, between being a mother and other work I am lucky to get a couple of hours a day. I scribble a lot of notes on the backs of receipts, which I invariably lose.  I convince myself that if the idea is strong it will still be in my head somewhere even if I can’t find where I have written it down.   

GWR: Is there a particular author/work that inspired you to become a writer or the way you write? 

CG: When in was in my twenties I read two novels that really struck me—Barbara Gowdy’s Falling Angels and Kate Atkinson’s Behind the Scenes at the Museum.  I related to the voices in these novels in a way I had never experienced before—I saw the possibility of my own voice on the page because of their dark humour and off-beat female characters. Gowdy’s book was set in Ontario I recognized and Atkinson’s book had an English humour familiar to me growing up in an English family. I started my first novel immediately after finishing Behind the Scenes at the Museum.  

GWR: What comes first for you—the overall idea or the characters? 

CG: Characters.  If I were to devise plot first, then ask the characters to live out the plot, I’d feel like I had predetermined the fates of people before I really knew them.  They may well have very different ideas!  I give them lots of room so that I can see where they take me. Sometimes they really surprise you and that is one of writing’s great joys.

GWR: How do you decide what point to start the story at and how much detail you’re going to provide?

You want to start a story at a point when a character’s life is about to change in some way, but you need to provide enough background material that your reader appreciates the significance of that change.  In the early stages of a novel I probably write the entire background—waaay too much detail—and then I have to look at what is most relevant, and cut the rest.    

GWR: Did any minor characters become major characters over the course of writing the novel? 

CG: Not in this particular book, but it has happened before. Some characters steal your heart and you continue to worry about them, particularly if they’ve been having a hard time and you don’t have the room to get them to safety. 

GWR: What character did you sympathize with the most and did that change while writing The Relatives? And do you have a favourite character in this book?

CG: Adam has my heart.  He is quite unknowable—to others and to himself.  He is protecting some fragile core by constantly being on the move, failing to commit to anything, anyone.  I care about him, wish I could help him, but know he doesn’t want my help.  

GWR: Lila and Tess are written in first person perspective, and Adam in third person perspective—did you always have the novel set up this way? Why did you decide to use multiple perspectives? 

CG: I think it works to reinforce the sense of Adam’s remove from others and himself by having him in the third person. Writing in the first person is probably more natural for me and I like the intimacy of what it affords, but Adam needs to remain just beyond reach. 

GWR: There are recurring themes of displacement and finding a sense of belonging within your books—what is it about these subjects that interest you?

CG: I think many writers grow up feeling like outsiders—perhaps because they spend so much time daydreaming and being in their own heads that the real world is a mystery. I became an anthropologist because of this same mystery. Observing life keeps you at some remove from it; it’s a kind of painful paradox, one that I think seeps into the work itself.  Rereading this book through the lens of the pandemic has made me aware of how existentially lonely these characters are—not something I was really aware of at the time of writing them.   

GWR: Music plays an important role in The Relatives—do you play the piano or any instruments?

CG: My father was a very talented musician.  He played violin and classical guitar and instilled a love of classical music in me.  I played violin and later viola growing up and it was excellent company, though I can’t say I was particularly good. I have taken piano lessons as an adult, but again my desire to play far exceeds my talent.  It’s a driving frustration of sorts, persisting at one of those things (like learning a language) that constantly make you confront your own limitations.  

GWR: Can you share what you are working on now?

CG: I’m working on some essays about art and language and I’m making a lot of collages. I think they are feeding off each other in some ways.  

*A version of this post was published on STYLE Canada.  

Saturday, July 3, 2021

Wish You Were Here by Jodi Picoult

A special thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Random House—Ballantine for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. 

Diana O’Toole is perfectly on track with her life: she will be married by thirty, done having kids by thirty-five, and move out to the New York City suburbs, all while climbing the professional ladder in the cutthroat art auction world. She’s not engaged just yet, but knows her boyfriend, Finn, a surgical resident, is going to propose on their romantic getaway to the Galápagos—days before her thirtieth birthday. Right on time.

But then a virus that felt worlds away appears in the city. On the eve of their departure, Finn breaks the news that it’s all hands on deck at the hospital and he has to stay behind. He insists that Diana should still go on the trip because it would be a shame for all of their nonrefundable trip to go to waste. And so, reluctantly, she goes.

Almost immediately, Diana’s dream vacation goes awry. The whole island is now under quarantine, and she is stranded until the borders reopen. Completely isolated, she must venture beyond her comfort zone. Slowly, she carves out a connection with a local family when a teenager with a secret opens up to Diana, despite her father’s suspicion of outsiders.

Wish You Were Here is set at the start of the pandemic. Picoult deftly captures the uncertainty, terror, and emotion surrounding the the onset of COVID-19. 

Picoult is a prolific writer who creates characters that are flawed and vulnerable, yet demonstrate some of the very best of the human spirit with their strength and compassion. Diana, although a challenging personality, is one of those characters. At times she is frustrating, but the connections she makes with the Galápagos and its people is not only rewarding to the reader, but some of the most beautiful writing in the book.

The feeling of isolation permeates the narrative, whether it is Diana's struggle of not speaking the language and being the only tourist on the island, to the physical separation of Diana and Finn. This ties into the feeling of desolation and loneliness experienced while under quarantine. The depictions of what the pandemic is like for those on the front line are harrowing, anxiety inducing, and quite frankly, terrifying.

Injecting culture, Wish You Were Here also offers a glimpse into the art world. Diana works for Soethby's as an associate assistant—she is working on acquiring a painting to auction from a character reminiscent of Yoko Ono. Her career trajectory is not only an interesting backstory, it also illustrates her passion and drive as well as her tenacity. 

And of course, it wouldn't be a Picoult novel without a mind-blowing twist. She completely blindsides and breaks her reader's heart—but leaves them with hope—in this story about resilience and love.  

In the breathtaking beauty of the Galápagos Islands, Diana will learn not only who she really is, but the person she wants to become. 

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JODI PICOULT received an AB in creative writing from Princeton and a master’s degree in education from Harvard. The recipient of the 2003 New England Book Award for her entire body of work, she is the author of twenty-seven novels, including the #1 New York Times bestsellers House Rules, Handle With CareChange of Heart, and My Sister’s Keeper, for which she received the American Library Association’s Margaret Alexander Edwards Award.


She lives in New Hampshire with her husband. They have three children.