It was hard to care about anything that happened in this book since all of the characters were so unlikeable. The "mystery" was not mysterious and there was o sense of urgency, the plot plodded, and the ended wrapped up all neat and tidy - ugh. ( )

A zippy read (therefore a good Booker contender according to Stella's jury from a couple of years ago). Funny too, with some good zinger lines. The story was pepped up with a world-weary cynicism. I hugely enjoyed the funny and withering character details and observations of relationships -- they reminded me of Margaret Atwood, and that combined with the subject matter of overwhelming family debt, made me wonder if Atwood's book [b:Payback: Debt and the Shadow Side of Wealth|3428252|Payback Debt and the Shadow Side of Wealth|Margaret Atwood|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1328772265s/3428252.jpg|3469132] played any role in the genesis of the idea for the book. I think older readers will appreciate it more -- the anxieties are of the later middle-aged. The younger ones aren't thinking of this stuff yet
There's added resonance for those readers familiar with Toronto.

( )

Mount Pleasant is a grand old cemetery, occupying prime real estate in the city of Toronto. It's a beautiful place and every time I walk there, I am intrigued by the lives and stories that have ended there. I enjoyed this book a lot. my one quibble: the ending wasn't very strong for me - it all seemed too tidy and convenient, which was a shame after all the energy, angst and intrigue Gillmor built up in the earlier chapters. I appreciated reading a novel about money -- having it, not having it, panicked over the lack of it...people (in the real world) are in a mess, i think, with their personal finances, and only one paycheque away from disaster. Gillmor also well captures the nuances of marriage and family. At times Mount Pleasant can seem like a straightforward read...but the characters and the story are actually quite layered. ( )

This is an excerpt from a longer consideration of the work, which can be read at BuriedInPrint.

The title borrows the name of an impressive cemetery in Toronto which, ironically, is also the name of a street in an upscale neighbourhood in the city; Harry knows both areas well.

The premise of the story is simple: Harry’s father has died and Harry has expected an inheritance. But Harry soon realizes that much of his understanding of the world, of the economy in particular, is out-of-date.

“Electronic fortunes rode on minor blips from the yen or the euro, distress signals that rose from Wall Street and zipped through ten million hard drives like tracer bullets and lit the battlefield as thieves crawled away with gold or growth or emerging markets.”

Money isn’t so much about gold and bills, guarded by dragons and hoarded by the likes of Scrooge McDuck, anymore, as it is about virtual currency. But Harry struggles to understand that shift.

“The binary commands sluiced through the world’s exchanges, and some of that money charging through the ether belonged to his father, belonged to Harry. He was sure of it.”

And even harder to accept is the fact that much of what he had assumed to be true about his father’s life and value(s) is now shifting as well. And this, in turn, forces significant shifts in Harry’s own life.

A zippy read (therefore a good Booker contender according to Stella's jury from a couple of years ago). Funny too, with some good zinger lines. The story was pepped up with a world-weary cynicism. I hugely enjoyed the funny and withering character details and observations of relationships -- they reminded me of Margaret Atwood, and that combined with the subject matter of overwhelming family debt, made me wonder if Atwood's book [b:Payback: Debt and the Shadow Side of Wealth|3428252|Payback Debt and the Shadow Side of Wealth|Margaret Atwood|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1328772265s/3428252.jpg|3469132] played any role in the genesis of the idea for the book. I think older readers will appreciate it more -- the anxieties are of the later middle-aged. The younger ones aren't thinking of this stuff yet
There's added resonance for those readers familiar with Toronto.

( )