Summary from GoodReads:

Irma Voth entangles love, longing and dark family secrets. The stifling, reclusive Mennonite life of nineteen-year-old Irma Voth – newly married and newly deserted and as unforgettable a character as Nomi Nickel in A Complicated Kindness - is irrevocably changed when a film crew moves in to make a movie about the community. She embraces the absurdity, creative passion and warmth of their world but her intractable and domineering father is determined to keep her from it at all costs. The confrontation between them sets her on an irrevocable path towards something that feels like freedom as she and her young sister, Aggie, wise beyond her teenage years, flee to the city, upheld only by their love for each other and their smart wit, even as they begin to understand the tragedy that has their family in its grip.

My Review:

At one level I understand, somewhat, where Miriam Toews was intending to go with Irma Voth but I was unable to connect on any sort of emotional level with Irma.

I should have been able to connect though, and that’s what is bugging me about this book.  Because, in its own stream of consciousness way, it was fairly easy to follow and to get caught up in the daily happenings in Irma’s life.  There were quirky characters, strange occurrences and even with the abundance of life in this book I just could not connect.

Instead, I ended up feeling empty, sad, filled with despair and lost hope.  I think that definitely was not intended, but it is what I took from the story.  The lack of family for Irma, the silly decisions made by Aggie, her sister, the neglect of Irma’s husband – it all just added up to a life that hardly seemed living on Irma’s behalf.   Once that conclusion was reached, it was really hard to shake.

Perhaps I’ll feel differently about the book once I read Swing Low, Miriam Toews memoir – maybe I’ll see a bit of her that will shed some light on the story.  I certainly hope so.

About the Author

• Information regarding Miriam Toews:

Miriam Toews is a Canadian writer of Mennonite descent. She grew up in Steinbach, Manitoba and has lived in Montreal and London, before settling in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

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