SWING LOW: A LIFE

 Miriam Toews. SWING LOW: A Life. Stoddart, 2000. 

A beautiful book written from inside "manic depression" by the ill man, Mel Toews, with his daughter as amanuensis. 

Knowing the outcome made it less traumatizing for this reader. My take-away is the criminal way the family members of someone with a mental illness are held responsible for their care, with no help, professional or otherwise. Caretaker burnout and lack of appropriate treatment in a secure setting. 

The daughter's description is heart-warming, stressing Mel's success as a beloved teacher, and showcasing his love of words, writing, and word-play. For example, designing his own "Do Not Disturb sign for his hospital door. He says it should say: "Come on in. The patient is already disturbed." Great, dare I say, typically Mennonite sense of humour. 

THE FORGOTTEN DAUGHTER

 Joanna Goodman. The FORGOTTEN DAUGHTER. Harper, 2020.

Another book club selection, also a sequel, to Goodman's novel about unwed mothers and the Duplessis orphans. Elodie is now an adult, part of her birth-mother's family, with a daughter of her own. Her through line is the court challenges for compensation from the government of Quebec and the church-run orphanages/mental homes, and the criminally abusive nuns. Elodie's brother James Phenix is a journalist, interested in understanding the source of the separatist thinkers in Quebec. He wants to interview his girlfriend Veronique's father, released from prison after being convicted of the murder of a cabinet minister. James is uncomfortable with V's participation in criminal smuggling and sale of cigarettes. Both James and Ver face ethical dilemmas. 

The writer's use of the term "French-Canadian" bothers me. I suspect an American editor, unaware of the province, and that close to half of the residents do not consider themselves or want to be "Canadian". Quebecois seems more correct to me, and the fact that it is not used loses credibility for me. Also the reference to "pure laine", the dyed in the wool Quebecker whose ancestry must link back to immigrants from France after 1600. To me, IMHumbleOpinion, this is a form of "white supremacy" and an excuse to reject newer arrivals, to disabuse the rights of certain others, the same way that the rights of illegitimate children were abused by the government who warehoused them in mental institutions in order to receive larger grants from Ottawa. 

I found this book very interesting, modern history of the changes in Quebec over the last sixty years, but lacking credibility because of a stereotypical sketch of "separatist" thinkers. 

The Glass Castle.

 Jeannette Walls. The Glass Castle. Scribner, 2005. 

A shattering memoir of growing up in a family with an "alternative" lifestyle, a father who is a dreamer who drinks and refuses to let employment interfere with his dreams. A mother who hides behind being an artist as an excuse not to be a protector and provider for her children. Terrible to see the invisible line between addiction/mental illness and freedom of choice, and the unimaginable life many children experience. Every teacher should read this story of a girl who survives and thrives in spite of the neglect she experienced. 

A Death Feast in Dimla-hamid

 Terry Glavin. A Death Feast in Dimla-hamid. New Star, 1990.

Have owned this for 30 years. Read it before attending the Dancers of Damelahamid performance at Cultural Centre. Book is much more enlightening although dance was beautiful & entertaining. Glavin mentions Mary Johnson 3 or 4 times. The Indigenous disrespect from government & corporations is mind-boggling.

Elemental

 Kate Braid. Elemental. Caitlin, 2018.

Reading an old friend. 

The Custodian of Paradise

 Wayne Johnston. The Custodian of Paradise. Vintage, 2006.

A book club selection. A sequel to Johnston's Colony of Unrequited Dreams, with Sheilagh Fielding as the main character. A Newfoundland girl raised by a distant doctor father after her mother abandoned her at age six. A rebellious teenager who gets pregnant from her first and only sexual experience. Gives the babies to be raised in New York by her mother and stepfather. Writes. Develops a friendship with Joey Smallwood who was unfairly blamed for the folly which resulted in Sheilagh's being expelled from school. She drinks and is mysteriously helped to get her supply by an unknown benefactor who eventually emerges as her "Provider". During WW II, in her 40s, Sheilagh exiles herself to an island attempting to quit drinking and grieve the death of one of her twins killed in the war.

The ending feels tacked on and confusing, making the Provider the actual "custodian of paradise" and the female lead merely a pawn in his game.

The LAST HOUSE ON NEEDLESS STREET

 Catriona Ward. THE LAST HOUSE ON NEEDLESS STREET. Nightfire, 2021.