Impurity by Larry Tremblay, Translated by Sheila Fischman

Reviewed in The Miramichi Reader by Patricia Sandberg

I thoroughly enjoyed the interlocking layers of Impurity by Larry Tremblay. A playwright, poet and essayist in addition to novelist, it’s Tremblay the playwright at work in this book as scenes shift before us.

Tremblay plays with us. He walks us through a “trap full of mirrors” where reflections cannot be trusted. The play within the play, the book within the book told through multiple characters’ points of view. A challenging and worthy read.

See the full review of Impurity in The Miramichi Reader. See my other book reviews here:  Cottagers and Indians by Drew Hayden Taylor; Brighten the Corner Where You Are by Carol Bruneau, Melt by Heidi Wicks, Skin House by Michael Blouin, Rising Tides edited by Catriona Sandilands, and The Group of Seven, Reimagined, edited by Karen Schauber. To read some reviews of my book Sun Dogs and Yellowcake, click here.

Cottagers and Indians, by Drew Hayden Taylor

Reviewed in The Miramichi Reader by Patricia Sandberg

Ojibway writer Drew Hayden Taylor drew on real-life events to write Cottager and Indians (published by Talon Books). A CBC documentary also covered the original controversy.

Arthur Copper, an Indigenous man, wants to grow and harvest wild rice from a quiet lake in Ontario’s cottage country. His adversary, a white woman named Maureen Poole, wants to retain the peaceful cottage experience she and her family have enjoyed for years.

Who is entitled to own or use land, or in this case, water is only one of several contemporary and provocative issues underlying the story.

Taylor employs humour with great skill in the interactions between the characters, which led Cottager and Indians to being shortlisted for the 2020 Stephen Leacock Memorial Medal for Humour.

See the full review in The Miramichi Reader. See my other book reviews here: Brighten the Corner Where You Are by Carol Bruneau, Melt by Heidi Wicks, Skin House by Michael Blouin, Impurity by Larry Tremblay, Rising Tides edited by Catriona Sandilands, and The Group of Seven, Reimagined, edited by Karen Schauber. To read some reviews of my book Sun Dogs and Yellowcake, click here.