Remind Me

Now that we're seeing some sun and warmer temperatures, I aim to do my reading outdoors; here's four recommendations for the park, lake, beach (or night table, on those rainy evenings):

Slammerkin, by Emma Donoghue (HarperCollins Publishers Ltd).

Donoghue has most recently received wide attention for her novel Room, but her 2000 novel Slammerkin (the word is eighteenth-century vernacular, a noun that refers to both a loose gown, and a loose woman) is also definitely worth putting on your reading list. Donoghue, who holds a PhD in eighteenth-century literature, employs her expertise in this era to create a vivid, breathing account of late 1740's London, and the often-vicious circumstances faced by young women who lacked fortune, titles, or family. Our heroine, Mary, whose poor family casts her out once they deem her "unvirtuous," survives and adapts to the violent, dehumanizing world of mid-century London; the brutalities of Mary's life are simultaneously mitigated and exacerbated by her attraction to luxurious clothing, fabrics, accessories, and the liberty and status that these beautiful things symbolize.

Click *More* to read further...

Bride of New France, by Suzanne Desrochers (Penguin Group Canada).

Another historical novel I recently enjoyed is Suzanne Desrochers' debut, Bride of New France. The story follows Laure, who begins the story in Paris' Salpêtrière, and who is eventually sent to Canada as a "filles du roi" - young women sent to New France to marry colonists, and to bear children to populate the colony. The manuscript for the novel began as Desrochers' M.A. thesis in history/creative writing, and for me, one of the major strengths of the book was the quality of research woven into the narrative. Desrochers' precise and bleak depiction of life for poor or orphaned girls in the Salpêtrière is perhaps surpassed only by her meticulous and unrelenting presentation of the social and physical challenges that life in New France poses to Laure.

The Angel Riots, by Ibi Kaslik (Penguin Group Canada).

Drawing on a contemporary Canadian milieu, Ibi Kaslik?s 2008 The Angel Riots is said to have been inspired by the formative days of Broken Social Scene (and their 2005 song "Ibi Dreams of Pavement" was inspired by Kaslik). Set in primarily in Montreal, the novel focuses on the stories of prairie-girl, violin prodigy Jim, and tortured trombone player Rize; both play in the rock orchestra/rock band The Divine Lights and The Angel Riots. The band blows up, personally and professionally, during their North American tour; as their fame grows, so does the interpersonal manipulation and betrayal among the members. The subject matter and Kaslik's tight, poetic writing work together to create the novel's gorgeous, volatile world. Rize describes his often-romanticized city: "It's not pretty at all, it's devastating." Similarly, The Angel Riots skillfully presents a destructive combination of talent, angst, addiction, and beauty.

L (and things come apart), by Ian Orti (Invisible Publishing).

Released in 2010 by independent Canadian house Invisible Publishing, Ian Orti's L (and things come apart) has a striking and sensual cover that well-represents the text inside. The story is set in a nameless, timeless city, where protagonist Henry's life mirrors the décor of his establishment: "thick vines arched over pots, stretching to the floor, buds he'd been told would bloom but were instead locked in a state of perpetual stagnation." But with the entrance of a mysterious stranger into café, followed by the enigmatic arrival of a woman named L who moves into the flat upstairs, Henry's world does eventually bloom, not into an expected beauty, but into an unpredictable sublime: chandeliers appear overnight in every room, a woolly mammoth appears on the streets, L sheds black blood during an altercation with the mysterious stranger. Orti balances the fantastical with the intimate, quotidian rhythm that grows between L and Henry; he compellingly exploits both the nuances of the smallest gestures, and the drama of the absurdist sublime.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Raised in rural Saskatchewan and now living in Toronto, Holly Luhning holds a PhD in eighteenth-century literature, madness and theories of the body. She has received a Saskatchewan Lieutenant Governor's Arts Award, and her collection of poetry, Sway, was nominated for a Saskatchewan Book Award. Her first novel, Quiver, is a psychological thriller that focuses on a young forensic psychologist drawn to the legend of the infamous Hungarian Countess Elizabeth Bathory. Holly launched Quiver at our Winnipeg and Saskatoon stores this spring, alongside the inimitable Jennifer Still. Visit Holly online here.