A Crack in the Wall by Betty Jane Hegerat Oolichan Books, 2008 240 pages Reviewed by Elizabeth Nolan The attempt to understand the human condition is at the heart of all great art and literature. For Albertan writer Betty Jean Hegerat, this quest must have even more profound depths, coming as she does from [...]
Campie by Barbara Stewart Memoir; Published by Heritage House Issued also in electronic format ISBN 978-1-926613-92-5 Reviewed by Tim Christison Barbara Stewart, author of Campie, has been sober for 18 years when she finds herself lower than a snake’s belly in all aspects of her life. Stewart struggles every day and uses the wisdom of her [...]
CHILD HONOURING: How to turn the world around Forward by Dalai Lama Raffi Cavoukian, Sharma Olfman, Editors ISBN 978-0-9866446-0-3 Homeland Press (2010) Reviewed by Tim Christison Child Honouring is a collection of scholarly readings and heartfelt essays that gives the reader an emotional workout while exploring the wisdom of 29 contributors. Stacked with statistics behind [...]
Distracting the Distractions: Raising a Child with ADD, A Parent’s Decision to Medicate by Joanne Sieppert Calgary: Jo-Anne Sieppert Publishing, 2010 73pp. $14.95 Reviewed by Annie Vigna Jo-Anne Sieppert is the author of a series of youth fiction, Nystars, and a self-published reference book titled Distracting the Distractions. Sieppert was 22 when she was diagnosed [...]
Far to Go By Alison Pick House of Anansi Press Inc., Toronto 2010 309pp, $29.95 ISBN 978-0-88784-238-2 Reviewed by Annie Vigna Alison Pick’s unnamed narrator, in Far to Go, begins by wishing that her story were a happy one; indeed, it is not. Pick carefully structures this work of historical fiction from vignettes of [...]
Key in Lock by Rona Altrows Calgary, Recliner Books, 2010 239pp. CAD $18.95 978-0-9813640-4-9 Reviewed by Annie Vigna The cover of Rona Altrows’ Key in Lock, a collection of 27 short stories, is adorned with Woman in Contemplation, a drawing created by Gabriel von Max. “Woman in Contemplation” might have been a suitable title for this [...]
Leaving Dublin: Writing My Way from Ireland to Canada by Brian Brennan Rocky Mountain Books, 2011 Reviewed by Bob Blakey Veteran author Brian Brennan (Scoundrels and Scallywags, How the West Was Written, and many other titles) gives us his first book about himself, and it was worth the wait. It’s about his childhood and [...]
Memoir of a Good Death by Anne Sorbie Thistledown Press, 2010 266 Pages Reviewed by Brenda Brooks “Have you ever wondered about the moment of your own death?” These are the opening lines of Anne Sorbie’s novel, Memoir of a Good Death. The question is posed by Rhegan Flett whose father has collapsed while delivering [...]
Mennonites Don’t Dance by Darcie Friesen Hossack Thistledown Press, 2010 201 pp. $18.95 CAD 978-1-897235-78-2 Reviewed by Annie Vigna Mennonites Don’t Dance, the title of Darcie Friesen Hossack’s collection of eleven short stories, evokes constraint, restraint, and foreboding. It suggests that there are rules, and perhaps consequences for breaking rules or rebelling against rules. The [...]
Monoceros by Suzette Mayr Coach House Books, 2011 220 pages Reviewed by Brenda Brooks Once upon a time, not so terribly long ago, in the kingdom of Calgary, there lived a virginal young maiden named Faraday who required the healing power of unicorns so desperately that she ordered a whole shipment from the Black Forest [...]
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