Katrina Onstad

I chose this book almost at random from the library shelves when I went to the library to collect another more carefully selected one. This turned out to be a rather good choice. A very good choice, actually. (I picked it off the shelf randomly, but I admit the "Longlisted for the Giller Prize" convinced me to take it home.) It's about a couple who are around half a generation behind me, and very much set in this century, so I could feel the relevance to me. That said, it's a story about a couple who are childless, and I'm definitely not in that situation. However it is fundamentally a story about people, their relationships, how they see themselves as people, and how the circumstances in which we find ourselves are very important in helping us to understand who we really are; with a focus on parenting. I guess the negative side is that it seems to be targeted at American yuppies (a group to which I never belonged) and it had a sort of slick feeling of being written by a newspaper 'culture columnist' (as Onstad is).… (plus d'informations)

What happens when the tidy, prosperous life of an urban couple is turned inside out by a tragedy with unexpected consequences? After a car crash leaves their friend Marcus dead and his wife Sarah in a coma, Ana and James are shocked to discover that they have become the legal guardians of a 2 year-old, Finn. Finn's crash-landing in their lives throws into high relief deeply rooted, and sometimes long-hidden, truths about themselves, both individually and as a couple. Summary BPL

The desire to be a parent or lack thereof can devastate a marriage. By definition desire cannot be reasoned away, nor can it be fully explained. A wife endures miscarriages, expensive IVF treatments and low grade inferiority to her naturally fecund friends. Enough is enough, she thinks. But the trajectory of her husband's path to fatherhood cannot be diverted. Despite the tragic circumstances, he is thrilled to assume legal guardianship of 2 year old Finn. His wife, a busy litigation lawyer, and sole supporter of the family since James lost his job (I think a lot of the plot turns on this point) valiantly tries to match his enthusiasm.

Ms Onstad easily pinpoints the stresses and tensions of a marriage's architecture; the push and pull of parenthood on the spousal relationship in relatively few pages. A deft portrait of a 21st century urban couple.

7.5 out of 10 Recommended to readers of Canadian and domestic fiction.… (plus d'informations)