Faye Guenther’s first collection of short fiction, Swimmers in Winter, is described as a “trifecta of diptychs.” Any of the six pieces can stand well on their own, or can work in their pairs to flesh out the characters, the timeframe, and the realities of life for queer women in their communities. Offering an exploration …
No Girls Allowed, by Natalie Corbett Sampson, follows ten-year-old Tina Marie Forbes and her family as they fight for her right to play hockey. The Forbes family moves from Toronto to Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, and are excited to get settled in the town. Early on, Tina reflects, “all you need to do to make friends is play sports. Join a team and there’s a bunch of them ready to meet . . . That’s been true wherever we’ve lived.” Sport is an essential part of who Tina is, and forms the basis from which she builds community.
Anita Kushwaha’s follow-up to her 2018 award-winning novel (and 2020 longlist nominee) Side by Side is Secret Lives of Mothers & Daughters (HarperCollins Canada). It is a generational story of — you guessed it — mothers and daughters and the secrets that they keep from each other.
Nadine is banished to a home for unwed mothers in 1950. She’s 15. Her baby daughter, whose father is shrouded in secrecy, is put up for adoption without her permission. Vowing to reunite one day with her daughter, she cuts all ties with her dysfunctional Irish and French-Canadian Catholic family whose past is cluttered with secrets, betrayals, incest and violence.
Poor Ramya. A Hindu woman in her late 40’s finds herself out of work (due to downsizing), separated from her husband, childless and nearly friendless. Plus, she is suffering from depression. So much so that she cannot even motivate herself to fill out her papers to get EI assistance. This is the state we meet …
[dropcap]Here [/dropcap]are a couple of mini-reviews of two recent fiction titles New Brunswick’s Goose Lane Editions, Marry Bang Kill by Andrew Battershill and Catch my Drift by Genevieve Scott. Marry Bang Kill by Andrew Battershill The title of this book comes from a popular question: when presented with three things (typically celebrities) who would you: …
In Many Waters is the gripping story of three orphans whose lives intersect on the island of Malta during our current, urgent refugee crisis.
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Nicholas Selig, Editor-in-Chief
