Souvankham Thammavongsa. PICK A COLOUR. Knoph Canada, 2025.
Winner of last year's Giller Prize. I watched the ceremony and I watched a separate interview with the writer. I love her voice and the thoughtfulness of her responses to questions, her ability to speak about her writing process. I also love the book although it is unusual in several ways.
It is a novel of character, a first-person stream of consciousness story of one day in the work life of Ning, a former boxer who now owns a manicure salon and lives above her shop. It is very gentle. It is very subtle. It weaves past and present, her former coach and former boss, and the differences now that she is in charge. It is left to the reader to pick up on things as closely as Ning notices and comments. It expects us to continue to live with the mystery. It expects us to see the small differences in Ning's thoughts between opening and closing time.
I waited for a used copy to arrive at the Bookman. For now, it stays securely on my CanLit shelves.
