Alayna Munce

This book really resonates with me. At its core, this is a story about a family struggling with the mental and physical decline of their family elders, Peter and Mary, and the inevitable event we all must face at some point: Death. Munce makes use of her writer's toolkit to weave a story through a collection of poems, conversations, lists, snatches of observations made in sharp relief and memories triggered by words, objects, and events. Words fail me to describe how connected I feel to this story. Munce writes as only one with first hand experience can, on a phase of life that many families struggle with. In an interview, Munce suggests the book is “not the masterpiece that when I was young I imagined my first book would be, the Great Canadian Novel. It’s just this book, this modest, imperfect, flawed offering, but I can live with it. Maybe it has some good moments and has something to offer.” Very humble words from an author who has written what I consider to be a very worthy read. Highly recommended.… (plus d'informations)

For something that mixes the past with the present, shares the narration with different characters, combines poetry and prose, deals with tragedy of tomorrow and difficulties of today, volleys between country and city life, is reflective and thought-provoking, and could potentially cause tears, I recommend When I Was Young & In My Prime by Alayna Munce. It's a Canadian book, published in 2005, and potentially difficult to find because it's not from a major publisher, but it's REALLY good. And so well written! (but that might be because the writing style is similar to some of my own, except much better) ;)… (plus d'informations)