This post is published to coincide with the anniversary of the author’s death. She died in her home in Toronto on July 12, 1961, where she had written the final Jalna book, Centenary at Jalna. Even though I deliberately chose a story-order reading, over a publication-order
Danticat, Farnsworth, Gallant, Hunter, Li and Quade Short Stories in April, May and June Whether in a dedicated collection or a magazine, these stories capture a variety of reading moods. This quarter, I returned to three familiar writers and also explored three new-to-me story writers. Just
This bundle of books, with the Canadian Reading Challenge in mind (this, the eleventh year, hosted by The Indextrious Reader, with sign-ups for the twelfth year now posted), was particularly delectable. I love the idea of telling the story of a life in a way that feels true, whether
Not one of them. Really? Not the woman vacationing with her lover? Or the young worker about to go home for Christmas Eve? Not the mother of teenagers choosing their eclairs? Or the young botany teacher who learned about plants from her father? Not the old friend who recites
"It is an attested fact that he was born in Mainz. Mainz is a place he passed through once, in a locked freight car when he was being transported through France with a convoy of prisoners." Willi and Ernst were prisoners of war together and in "Willi", Mavis Gallant's
