Tilting Towards Joy, a collection of short stories on the themes of making and finding community, is a refreshing exploration on the complexity of human behavior.
The collection revolves around the house exchange that brings Lucia and Mitch to France for six months, with each story examining an encounter that somehow connects to that event. Sometimes, we observe the reactions of characters to one another and the event in which they meet, perhaps a visit or a dinner party, and wonder at their actions and words. In another selection, as we learn the backstory of these characters, the pieces of their lives begin to fit together, inviting our empathy. We meet in “Knock-Off”, for example, the character of June, who comes to France with friends, planning to spend time with her old friend Lucia. As the wine and conversation flow, she suddenly lashes out at each member of the group, tactlessly criticizing the ways in which they have frustrated her. In the next selection, we encounter thirteen-year-old June, whose life revolved around looking after her siblings, a childhood of service with no choice or freedom. We begin to realize why, forced into a stance of continual compromise as she travels, she reacts. Although we might not accept her response to the group, we have a better understanding of its origins.
At other times, a new story will reveal how an event or character already described is seen through the perspective of another character. The way in which lifelong friend June experiences Lucia will be quite different from the way new acquaintance Joel perceives her. When we meet Kathy and Ian in “Notre Dame”, we learn something of Kathy’s inner struggle, and then we learn more about her—as well as Lucia and Mitch—through her perceptions of them in “Hollow”. Characters and events emerge in three dimensions as the stories connect in the present, drawing on a foundation laid in the past.
Within this marvelous interlocking puzzle truths merge, all the richer because they are part of an interconnected mass through time and space, not isolated on a timeline. Lucia, through her time with the elderly Mary, long before her trip, comes to realize that “so much of love was put into practice … so much of what really matters is never said aloud.” This is learned in the way she is a caregiver to Mary, and in the way Lucia supports a husband who has little understanding of her. “La Claque” acknowledges the hidden moments that define a life, the way in which the “unexpected stories” are shared unbidden, so that they will not be borne alone. We learn through Elle, a childhood friend whose son has left home in defiance, that “letting go was a different kind of love.” That the love of her damaged, alcoholic father is also real, for love is not cut and dry. And in “Channel”, Jessica’s boyfriend realizes that sometimes we must leave the loved one we cannot save, simply to save ourselves. Love has many faces and is seen in many ways.
Perhaps most poignant is the recovery of intimacy as Sophie, a confident Canadian we met earlier at a dinner party in France, now endures a most frustrating trip to New York with her childhood friend Ann, frustrated and embarrassed by her obtuse ways. Yet they join in a beautiful moment over Van Gogh’s Starry Night, drawn back to a childhood starry night shared long ago. And later, we will go deeper into Ann’s past, to her husband’s unhappy first marriage, and appreciate the way Ann’s pragmatism and warm, uncomplicated nature will fill a void in his life. As it does in Sophie’s.
As the connections build, the realization grows that every moment in life, in time and space, is somehow connected to every other moment. Our connections form, evolve, and reconstruct. Finally, we are challenged to consider what defines us.
As the connections build, the realization grows that every moment in life, in time and space, is somehow connected to every other moment. Our connections form, evolve, and reconstruct. Finally, we are challenged to consider what defines us. To what extent are we defined by our personal history, our ancestry, our relationships through time, our artifacts? Are we, perhaps, defined by that which surrounds us at the present time, in our immediate connections with and the way we encounter the world in this moment? What and who do we take with us or embrace?
Most of all, the prose flows, rich in insight and reflection while maintaining a smooth and simple narrative style. There is vivid imagery: We can visualize Lucia lugging the basket of pears, Valerie overseeing the carrying and stowing of her cherished cabinet. The author draws our attention to the defining element in the seemingly insignificant moments, the way Mary touches her fist to her breastbone as she speaks of heartache, the way Sophie touches a hand to Ann’s bent back as they view the Van Gogh original, to the final decisions and choices in the last story.
When I read Margaret Macpherson’s memoir Tracking the Caribou Queen, her ability to describe life events with integrity and empathy was memorable. She brings this same gift to this fictional work, exploring the human condition with honesty and compassion, and lifting it up with love. A remarkable and beautiful collection.
Margaret Macpherson is a writer originally from Canada’s Northwest Territories. She holds an MFA in Creative Writing from UBC and has worked as an essayist and journalist in Atlantic Canada, Bermuda, Vancouver, and Edmonton. She has published eight books including Tracking the Caribou Queen (winner of the IPPY Gold Medal for Western Canada Regional Non-fiction and shortlisted for the Alberta Book Publishing Awards for Non-fiction Book of the Year), Body Trade (Winner of the De Beers NorthWords Prize), Released (shortlisted for the Mary Scorer Award for Best Book by a Manitoba Publisher), and Perilous Departures (shortlisted for the Mary Scorer Award for Best Book by a Manitoba Publisher). Margaret lives in Deep River, Ontario.
Publisher: Signature Editions (October 15 2024)
Paperback 8″ x 6″ | 156 pages
ISBN: 9781773241494
- Anne Smith-Nochasakhttps://miramichireader.ca/author/annesn/
- Anne Smith-Nochasakhttps://miramichireader.ca/author/annesn/
- Anne Smith-Nochasakhttps://miramichireader.ca/author/annesn/
- Anne Smith-Nochasakhttps://miramichireader.ca/author/annesn/
- Anne Smith-Nochasakhttps://miramichireader.ca/author/annesn/
- Anne Smith-Nochasakhttps://miramichireader.ca/author/annesn/
