Fiction: Vanessa and Her Sister by Priya Parmar

A beautiful moment in history is brought to life in Vanessa and Her Sister (Ballantine) with a correspondence between an as-yet-unknown group of young artist and writers who despair of ever amounting to anything. The title’s Vanessa is the painter Vanessa Bell, sister to theVirginia who would later become Woolf. Their friends include an as-yet-unpublished E.M Forster and Lytton Strachey. John Maynard Keynes is job hunting.

Here we have a fictional reworking of what-might-have-beens. An imaginative collection of notes, journal entries, postcards, letters, telegraphs, epiphanies and dreams, all wrought by the hand of Priya Parmar (Exit the Actress), who seems here to magically revisit history on our behalf, concocting a delicious and imaginative quilt from a time long past filled with names we know well.

Though the group of friends is endearingly wrought, the focus is on the sisters, Vanessa and Virginia, here coming into their maturity with alarming results. As Vanessa falls in love and pulls away into her own life, Virginia feels abandonment and a despair that at times borders on madness.

Vanessa and Her Sister is memorable and unique. Though the work is fiction, it leaves us feeling like we know a bit more about the secretive story between these dynamic sisters. ◊

New This Week: The Dress Shop of Dreams by Menna van Pragg

Menna van Praag’s highly anticipated second novel (after 2013’s The House at the End of Hope Street) delights with elements of fantasy, fairy tale and magical realism. Beautifully written and vibrantly shared, it’s a tough tale not to fall in love with.

Cora Sparks, a scientist, lost her parents under mysterious circumstances many years ago. Since then, Cora has immersed herself in her work and in the corners of her grandmother Etta’s dress shop. What Cora doesn’t know -- though we all suspect -- is that one should never underestimate the power of a good dress. And there is magic waiting in the shop’s corners that will help her realize all of her dreams: even the most important ones.

Make no mistake, The Dress Shop of Dreams (Ballantine) is a classic love story, but the well applied tastes of magic and fairytales bring the tale to a different level. Menna van Praag knows how to tell a story. And she does it with charm and even panache. The Dress Shop of Dreams is just the right tale with which to begin a fantastic new year of reading. ◊

New Yesterday: The Unwitting by Ellen Feldman

Guggenheim Fellow, Ellen Feldman, wows us with her fifth novel, The Unwitting (Spiegel & Grau).

Set against the tumultuous backdrop of the Cold War as it was experienced in the United States, we join young magazine writer Nell Benjamin on November 22, 1963, as she gets some distressing news. Yes: it is the day President Kennedy was shot, and that’s distressing enough. But what Nell learns impacts her on a much more personal level. Her husband, the hotshot editor of a literary magazine and a man she thought she knew thoroughly, has betrayed her in a very complete way, and not with another woman.

There is a lot going on in The Unwitting. In some ways it is a stylish portrait of love and marriage. In another it reveals an America in the throes of horrible change, still dealing with the fallout of the McCarthy era and preparing to take its place on the international Cold War stage.

The Unwitting is unexpected. Compelling enough to take its place with the best of crime fiction, Feldman’s language is loving, bright and sharp while her storytelling abilities are unquestionable here. The Unwitting cuts us into an interesting time, then ramps things up.

Feldman’s novel, Scottsboro, was shortlisted for the Orange Prize. Feldman is clearly a writer who is going places, The Unwitting brings that home: it’s a terrific book. ◊


Sienna Powers is a contributing editor to January Magazine.

Holiday Gift Guide: A Christmas Hope by Anne Perry

It’s gotten so I look forward to Anne Perry’s annual Christmas offering almost as much as my beautifully decorated tree, plum pudding and my children’s faces on Christmas morning. It’s become another tradition, for me and a personal treat. And, truly? I should wait and see if it appears under the tree, but I never do. (And so it never does.)

A Christmas Hope (Ballentine) is Perry’s 11th Victorian Christmas mystery and, like the others that have come before, it is charming and dependable. Pretty much, really, just the way Christmas should be.

Claudine Burroughs is dreading Christmas. It is, to her, the worst of all seasons, forcing her to face up to the fact that the dreams and aspirations she’d held earlier in her life are fading fast, along with -- she fears -- the faint good looks she had. The coming of Christmas only serves to remind her of all she has not -- and likely will not -- attain.

This is the mood she is in when she meets Dai Tregarron at a party. He is a poet who makes her feel a glimmer of the spirit she once had. An hour later he is accused of a horrible crime: killing a young prostitute who had been smuggled to the party. Claudine believes in Dai’s innocence and sets out to prove it and in the course of her investigation, she discovers secrets that will shock her fashionable London set to its core.

Thank goodness, however, it is Christmas, the season of miracles, and anything is possible. Claudine is able to come up with a resolution that not only clears her new friend, but celebrates the best of the season in a number of ways.

Perry’s many fans know that her Christmas books do not feature the very best of her writing or the snakiest of her plots. However, they are warm, charm-filled and absolutely of the season. Happy holidays! ◊

Biography: Queens of Noise: The Real Story of the Runaways by Evelyn McDonnell

Though there’s much to like about Evelyn McDonnell’s well thought out and researched biography of The Runaways, the first all-girl, all-teen rock band, Queens of Noise (Da Capo). But what slays me are the might-have-beens.

By rights, more than 35 years after their late 1970s debut, The Runaways should be legends. And like the legendary rock bands that have gone before them, they should be rolling a retirement tour by now, lining their nests while we scream and applaud youthful memories.

The Runaways had the right stuff: contacts, contracts, line up and chops. But though the four years the girls performed together would yield significant success in the US, and substantial attention overseas, the group would ultimately implode under the combined weight of youthful exuberance, personality clashes, too much of a lot of things (drugs, alcohol, etc) and an industry that, in the 70s, seemed designed to be ultimately unhealthy for what would turn out to be a proto Riot Grrrl outfit that set the stage for the glam rock that would follow.

Though history and films have consistently cast The Runaways’ manager, Kim Fowley, as the evil hand that created and then destroyed the group, McDonnell disputes his ultimate sway. Part of that legend might simply have come from what people expect young women to do and create. Kathleen Hanna of Bikini Kill and Le Tigre says it very well in Queens of Noise: “When you hear something like that on a record, I feel like a lot of people are trained to think a full-grown man is doing that. To be able to conceptualize that it’s not a full-grown man, it’s actually a teenage girl doing it -- it changes what is possible for yourself as a girl, as a woman.”

Though The Runaways did not survive either the 1970s or the five bandmates’ approach to adulthood, all but one of band members did survive and even thrive. Joan Jett and Lita Ford would go on to have brilliant solo careers. Cherie Currie turned successfully to the arts, Fox “went to Harvard Law School with Barack Obama and became an entertainment attorney” and her band replacement, Vicki Blue, is now a filmmaker. Drummer Sandy West ended sadly, perhaps the strongest musician among them, died in 2006. After a life of crime and addiction, she was diagnosed with lung cancer while in prison and.

Though McDonnell’s biography of the band occasionally echoes with a sharp feminist trill, it is perhaps not misplaced here. This is a girl’s story. A woman’s story. And the influence this bouquet of teenagers would have on the music scene is perhaps still being calculated. ◊

Sienna Powers is a contributing editor to January Magazine.

Non-Fiction: Women of the Frontier: Sixteen Tales of Trailblazing Homesteaders, Entrepreneurs, and Rabble-Rousers by Brandon Marie Miller

I never tire of reading about the amazing women who made this country great. They are the backbone of the country, and in many ways their struggles and triumphs represent the very best we have ever had to offer.

They are the backbone of the country, and in many ways their struggles and triumphs represent the very best we have ever had to offer.

All of these maybe-truisms are highlighted by the stories of the 16 women featured in Women of the Frontier. The book is part of the Chicago Review Press Women of Action biography series, intended to introduce “young adults to women and girls of courage and conviction throughout the ages.” And though the book is considered to be juvenile non-fiction, readers of all ages will enjoy these fascinating accounts of these female forebears who made a difference.

Colorado businesswoman, Clara Brown, freed from slavery at the age of 57, went west with the hope of finding her daughter, Eliza Jane, who had been sold to another family in childhood. In Central City, Clara made a fortune first in laundry and then real estate. Ultimately she spent the fortune first in trying to find Eliza Jane, then in bringing former slaves to Colorado.

The tale of Cynthia Ann Parker was astonishing. Taken from her family by the Commanche when she was a young girl, Cynthia married a famous chief and had three children with him. When she was recovered from the Commanche by the army and returned to her family 24 years later, Cynthia no longer remembered English and would do little beyond keening for the husband and sons she’d kept behind.

I loved Women of the Frontier completely. Miller brings her subjects to perfect life, recreating a time when even simple acts could be difficult and have great impact. It’s tough not to feel inspired and uplifted by her stories. ◊

Young Adult: Allegra by Shelley Hrdlitschka

Music is the connective tissue of Shelley Hrdlitschka’s ninth novel, Allegra (Orca Books).

A performing arts high school is not proving to be the school Allegra dreamed about. She had imagined being able to dedicate herself completely to dance, which is her passion. But in some ways, it’s been a rude awakening. It’s still school, and not only must she deal with the cliques and mundane classes she’d have to take at other schools, here she is also expected to come out with a well-rounded arts education and that’s not what she had in mind at all. She is disconsolate when she’s forced to take music theory, something she’d figured she was beyond. But she finds herself surprisingly fascinated, not only by the material, but by the interesting and attractive young teacher presenting it.

It’s not long before Allegra finds herself falling hard for Mr. Rochelli and she’s certain he feels it, too. But what if she’s mistaken about what she feels are his intentions? And, after a while, even that isn’t important. It just doesn’t seem possible that he doesn’t feel as she does.

The love Allegra feels for Mr. Rochelli lifts the girl through her days. She feels elevated. And it isn’t just what she sees inside. Others notice the change in her, so of course she figures, the love must be real.

The truth, of course, is far from what it appears to be. But as Allegra discovers the nature of these truths, she also finds fresh aspects to her own talents.

I liked Allegra a lot. Allegra herself is engaging enough to be a welcome companion and while some parts of the conclusion seem inevitable from the beginning, there are enough twists to make the outcome interesting. And it satisfies. Readers 12 and up will like this one. ◊

Sienna Powers is a contributing editor to January Magazine.

New Today: Island Girls by Nancy Thayer

It would perhaps be an over-statement to call Nancy Thayer queen of the beach read. Even so, 16 novels into a fantastic career, one would not go far in saying that about the Nantucket-based author.

Just in case you don’t believe me, have a look at the first edition cover of her latest book, Island Girls (Ballantine). As you can see: ocean, a horizon line, a beach umbrella. If ever a book were designed to tempt you onto the strand, this is it. And the content? Well, the cover informed it. And whichever Ballantine publicist who, in the press release that accompanied the book into reviewer’s hands, warned that, “Thayer’s newest tale will have readers at the edge of their beach towels.”

Like many of Thayer’s novels, Island Girls is set on Nantucket. The girls in question are Meg, Arden and Jenny, three half-sisters who are forced to spend the summer on the island when their dashing father dies and they come home to spend the summer in the house together, as their father insisted so that they might sell it. The trio have old issues that need resolution before they can live together harmoniously and having them forced to work things out seems to be their late father’s unspoken last wish.

Though I liked Island Girls well enough, it lacked some of the grit and substance of a few of Thayer’s earlier titles. Heat Wave, for example. Or The Hot Flash Club. That said, Island Girls is a perfect book to chill with. The conflict resolves itself acceptably, and the characters are engaging enough to warrant spending some time with. ◊

Sienna Powers is a transplanted Calgarian who lives and works in Vancouver, B.C. She is a writer and conceptual artist.

Cookbooks: Virgin Vegan: The Meatless Guide to Pleasing Your Palate by Linda Long

In a world grown newly concerned with the ethics of eating animals and animal products, more and more people are coming to veganism. At first, it can seem a daunting journey. It’s one thing not to eat the flesh of animals. But also take away cheese and eggs and butter and milk and whey and… well, you get the idea. On the surface of things, there’s not a lot left.

Twenty years ago -- perhaps even 10 -- veganism was a radical choice. Increasingly, however, with a world becoming ever more damaged by mankind’s need for more, people are looking for alternative ways of living. Food, obviously, is a big part of that and certainly the food production practices that became common in the west during the 20th century are having an impact here in the 21st… and it’s usually not pretty.

I don’t need to go on. If you are considering veganism or have already made that leap, you’ve already examined the reasons why. And closely. What remains may well be just how to make it work in your life. A vegan start-up guide is called for. Enter Linda Long, the author of Great Chefs Cook Vegan and herself a long time vegetarian.

If you’re going to take a single book into your new vegan lifestyle, Virgin Vegan (Gibbs Smith) would not be a bad way to go. Long starts things off with concisely shared basics: a few thoughts on the ethics of it all. A few more on what veganism actually is. Then on to the basics of the vegan pantry. Then what to do when you’re in a restaurant or traveling.

The largest of these pre-sections is given to the nutrition of the whole thing, which is terrific because, even if you don’t have a lot of questions about your new vegan lifestyle, everyone else in your life probably will. Where do you get your protein? What about vitamins and minerals? All of these things -- and more -- are covered very well.

Then on to the highlight of the hour: all of the wonderful food (with color pictures!) that you can look forward to eating. Truthfully, in that regard, Virgin Vegan is not the most exciting vegan cookbook we’ve seen. That said, not only are there many really solid recipes here, more importantly there are some really fab basics. I loved the Broccoli and “Cheese” Sauce (not cheese at all, of course. But in this case a very good substitute, both visually and for flavor). Salisbury Steak and Gravy is a fun vegan rendition of a classic meat-based dish. Creamy potato salads, coleslaw, and cream-style soups all seem intended to make the transition easier.

For new vegans just starting on what can be a challenging journey, Virgin Vegan is a terrific first step.

Fiction: Dark Tide by Elizabeth Haynes

Anyone who has ever taken part in Nanowrimo -- National Novel Writing Month -- and wondered what was possible need wonder no more. If ever there was a best case scenario, Elizabeth Haynes has lived it/is living it.

It looks like this: Haynes, a mother, wife and police intelligence analyst who lives in Kent, England, made her first foray into fiction writing with Nanowrimo in 2006. Fast forward not very far to her first novel. Into the Darkest Corner was published in the UK early in 2011 to wide acclaim. It was named Amazon UK’s best book of the year and film rights were sold to Revolution Film.

Two years later, Dark Tide (not to be confused with the faintly crappy 2012 Halle Berry movie of the same title) is living up to the promise of that first passionately written blockbuster.

Another tense thriller that is likely to keep a lot of beachgoers riveted this summer as they get to know the engaging Genevieve, a London salesperson who chucks the stress of job and city to live her dream on a houseboat in Kent.

What the gorgeous Genevieve hasn’t shared with her pals is that she’s paid for her new start working weekends as a pole dancer and a not-so-exclusive gentleman’s club. The secret threatens to come out, though, when a body washes up during her housewarming party and Genevieve recognizes the victim as one of her colleagues from the club.

As charming as readers will find Genevieve, she is not the most reliable of narrators and during our time with her we come to doubt her judgement and even her perspective. We find ourselves, then, in a well-wrought psychological drama where everything is in question and nothing is quite what it seems.

Haynes has penned another winner and Nanowrimo has delivered a poster girl.  After all, bestsellerdom, films coming and wonderful new books on the way: it just doesn’t get much better than that. ◊

Sienna Powers is a contributing editor to January Magazine.

Young Adult: Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell

Eleanor & Park (St. Martin’s Griffin) is so much better than it needs to be, it takes one by surprise. Though the book is aimed at young adult readers, this is the sort of ageless story that needs no limits. Readers of all ages who enjoy having their hearts touched will like this one.

The pair in the title are a brace of 16-year-olds who are deeply in love. They are intelligent teens and understand that, for so many reasons, the deep attachment they feel can not last. Even so, they give into the things that call them and have a go.

The misfit mid-1980s Omaha teens are an ill-made match that has their friends and families shaking their heads. Park is biracial: the “weird Asian kid” is how Eleanor first sees him, with skin “the color of sunshine through honey.” Eleanor is a loud and large, a big-boned redhead who sees herself as fat. They spin their love against a backdrop of punk rock mixtapes and it’s impossible not to root for them, even while you suspect that this story of first love will not have an a-typical ending.

Eleanor & Park follows up Rowell’s debut: 2011’s smart and wonderful Attachments. No sophomore slump here. Eleanor & Park is a biography of a first love: poignant, heartfelt, ultimately doomed, but absolutely unforgettable. ◊


Sienna Powers is a contributing editor to January Magazine.

Young Adult: The Friday Society by Adrienne Kress

Author, actor and director Adrienne Kress (Alex and the Ironic Gentleman, Timothy and the Dragon’s Gate) attacks her first young adult novel with cinematic verve. In her newest book, Kress delivers a high-spirited study of the nature of heroism at the hands of a trio of girls in a steampunk world.

The Friday Society (Dial) brings us lab assistant Cora, magician’s assistant Nellie and Michiko, the flight assistant: all three game girls who assist powerful men. They meet under mad circumstances and are united at the discovery of an unsolved murder that may have links to each of their lives. The book is period, but still entirely contemporary in tone, as one can see from the opening lines:

And then there was an explosion.

It was loud. It was bright. It was very explosion-y… 

Kablooey.

That was the technical term for it.

So there is a lightness to The Friday Society, but never a silliness, and Kerr maintains that balance with an almost perfect zen. Kress’ starring three are charming -- competent, intelligent and anything but typical -- but Kress’ secondary characters are almost as interesting. ◊

Sienna Powers is a transplanted Calgarian who lives and works in Vancouver, B.C. She is a writer and conceptual artist.

Fiction: Tiger Rag by Nicholas Christopher

You know it’s going to be a good year in fiction when the very first book you read in the year has the fine, sweet notes of Nicholas Christopher’s searing and beautiful Tiger Rag (Dial Press).

Jazz myths loom large in Tiger Rag, a book that is at least thinly based on  the life of jazz legend Buddy Bolden. I say “thinly” because, truly, not a lot is known about Bolden. His star burned hot, swift and terribly sad. Born in 1877 in New Orleans, at the age of 30 he was committed to the  Louisiana State Insane Asylum at Jackson where he stayed until his death in 1931 at the age of 54.

The things we do know about Bolden are shrouded in mist and mystery and the talented cornetist left no known recordings. None documented, that is. Rumors of his recordings still beat hot in the jazz community today. So it is that Christopher comes to embed unanswered questions and bits of intrigue into his own deeply felt version of what-might-have-been.

One of the myths is that Bolden made a recording in 1904 -- “Tiger Rag” -- that was subsequently lost in the intervening years. Christopher turns the mist into a Holy Grail of a tale that stretches from New Orleans in 1900 to present day Florida where a once-prominent anesthesiologist is dealing with the death of her career and the collapse of her family. On a trip to New York, the doctor and her jazz pianist daughter, a recovering addict, discover family links to the lost cylinder containing Buddy Bolden’s mythical recordings.

Christopher is the author of several beautiful books including The Bestiary, A Trip to the Stars and Franklin Flyer.  Those familiar with Christopher’s work will find a gentler, more refined soaring of the imagination here. This is not the stark magical realism encountered in The Bestiary or A Trip to the Stars. In some ways, the author stays pretty close to the straight and narrow here, at least comparatively so. Still, there is magic in Tiger Rag. And it’s not just in the plot. Christopher is the author of five other novels as well as books of poetry and a non-fiction work about noir. Tiger Rag seems perfectly the product of an author with this background and these interests. It is at times poetic in its beauty. It is thoughtful -- even contemplative, even while it is dark. And there is enough truth here to set you on your own journey of exploration. This is a gorgeous, memorable book peopled with characters so lifelike their pain seems contagious. I can’t encourage you strongly enough to take Christopher up on the offer of this magical ride. ◊

Sienna Powers is a contributing editor to January Magazine.

New Today: Invisible by Carla Buckley

Carla Buckley’s particular blend of domestic drama and suburban suspense is quickly building her a staunch following. Her debut novel, The Things That Keep Us Here, was widely lauded and broadly acclaimed. Her sophomore effort, Invisible (Bantam) promises to please those earlier fans with a tale of secrets in a small town and the lives they hold there.

Sisters Dana and Julie were separated by a secret that ripped their family apart. When, as an adult, Dana discovers Julie is sick and returns to her hometown, she discovers that the illness that afflicts her estranged sister might have impact on the whole town. Ultimately, only she puts together all of the threads that will save all of the people she loves.

Fans of Jodi Picoult and Emilie Richards will enjoy Buckley’s way with suspense and family. Nothing here is ever what it seems. On the other hand, the familial aspects resonates with anyone who has ever had a family. ◊

Sienna Powers is a transplanted Calgarian who lives and works in Vancouver, B.C. She is a writer and conceptual artist.

Holiday Gift Guide: Seeing Red: The True Story of Blood by Tanya Lloyd Kyi

Many parents of kids with active brains are familiar with Tanya Lloyd Kyi’s work. Kyi’s writing is sharp and her topics are targeted, and betray both the author’s own natural curiosity as well as a way of writing for children that manages to be calm, informative and interesting all at once.

Her most recent book, Seeing Red: The True Story of Blood (Annick Press), is a perfect example.

Blood pacts and sacrifices. Blood brothers and blue bloods. Bloodletting and spatter patterns. The idea of blood flows through human culture the same way the real stuff flows through our veins. 

And so we encounter vampires and gladiators, learn about hemophilia and about blood in language as well as fact (blood runs deep, he’s hot-blooded and so on).

Clearly a book about blood aimed at kids 10 and up needs to be fun and not everyone could pull that off, but Kyi does it handily. She’s helped here by illustrations from Steve Rolston that range from whimsical to graphic novel-style panels. The resulting book is both compelling and instructive and I’m guessing that kids will be enthralled. ◊

Sienna Powers is a transplanted Calgarian who lives and works in Vancouver, B.C. She is a writer and conceptual artist.

New This Week: Ison of the Isles by Carolyn Ives Gilman

In 2011, I was captivated by Carolyn Ives Gilman’s introduction to the Forsaken Isles. While choosing the book as one of my top reads of the year, I said that “Isles of the Forsaken is not one of those works of fantasy that you just fall into. Like some of the very best of the genre, you really have to work at it for a while to discover the richness. It’s a whole new world, after all. One with four races and a lot of strife and conflict. An imperial technocracy is pushing out an ancient culture and author Carolyn Ives Gilman captures the nuances of this conflict perfectly.”

In many ways -- and as appropriate -- the author’s follow-up to that novel, Ison of the Isles (CZP) is exactly like that. Only different.

This time out, the politics are more developed and the the machinations are deeply in play. Revolution has broken out in the Forsaken Isles and the islanders have risen up in one disjointed whole in order to drive away the Inning Empire. However they know they will never present a united front until they have an Ison to lead them: something that is easier said than done.

Like the first book, Ison of the Isles is not the sort of SF/F you fall into quickly and follow easily. Like the best of the genre, you spend some time orienting yourself in a world so complete, it's easy to get lost. As a result, if you’re looking for an easy read, you might do better to keep looking. If, however, you’re ready to be fully carried away, Ison of the Isles is a good choice. Ives Gilman builds her world with a muscular poise that is so graceful and authoritative, it seems easy in its confidence. ◊

Sienna Powers is a transplanted Calgarian who lives and works in Vancouver, B.C. She is a writer and conceptual artist.

New Today: Gossip by Beth Gutcheon

Beth Gutcheon’s ninth novel is rock solid, old-school character driven storytelling. Readers who recall and enjoyed the best of Judith Krantz and Erica Jong will appreciate Gutcheon’s voice and stance in Gossip (William Morrow), a novel that explores the reaches and holds of friendship. How we gain it, how we hang to it and how, under the right circumstances -- or the wrong ones -- we can exploit it. Gutcheon’s human portraits are so deft and familiar that it’s not always a comfortable ride.

Four well-heeled Manhattan matrons who met at boarding school in the 1960s are the central focus of Gossip. Much of the action takes place or is recounted at a high end dress shop on the Upper East Side owned by Lovie Walker. Lovie narrates and guides us on a journey through her friend’s lives. The device of Lovie’s interested voice and perspective really works here as she has both access and interest as well as a likable voice. She’s someone you don’t mind spending time with because, before very long you’re engrossed in Gossip and spending time in the company of Lovie and friends doesn’t seem much like work, at all.

Though a murder takes place in Gossip, this is nothing at all like a mystery and though there are suspenseful moments throughout the book, neither is it romantic suspense. Gutcheon seems to use the device of an old friendship and the ties that have bound it and the boundaries that contain it… or do not.

Gutcheon’s many fans will recognize her stellar prose but might be pleasantly surprised by Gossip even so. Critics are calling this Gutcheon’s best book yet. ◊


Sienna Powers is a transplanted Calgarian who lives and works in Vancouver, B.C. She is a writer and conceptual artist.

Fiction: Puppy Love by Frauke Scheunemann

Readers who loved Garth Stein’s very charming The Art of Racing in the Rain from 2008 will likely also be charmed by Puppy Love, out now from Anansi in Canada and Atlantic in the US. Published to warm and wide acclaim in Germany as Dackelblick in 2010, a book Scheunemann followed up a year later with Katzenjammer, wherein the rescued star of Puppy Love gets a four-legged housemate.

But I’m getting ahead of myself. Caroline is a sweet and perhaps-too-trusting animal lover. She travels to an animal shelter and has the good taste to choose Hercules, a down-on-his-luck dachshund who proves to be perhaps too opinionated. After he moves in with Caroline, Hercules’ life would be absolutely perfect but for a boyfriend Caroline’s new dog thinks she would do better without.

Though Caroline doesn’t realize it, with Hercules’ help, her life soon becomes a canine-supervised version of the dating game. However, much to Hercules’ chagrin, Caroline just can’t seem to pick the man who would be absolutely right for her.

Puppy Love is charming, heart-warming and all the things you would just not expect it to be. This is a romantic comedy for those who always believed good things were possible for that sub-genre. Despite the unlikely canine narrator and a cover that borders on the ridiculously cute, at its heart, Puppy Love is a steeply human tale. ◊


Sienna Powers is a transplanted Calgarian who lives and works in Vancouver, B.C. She is a writer and conceptual artist.

New in Paperback: The Peach Keeper by Sarah Addison Allen

Southern fiction has its own smooth rhythms. You can feel this along with the smokey hues of the new South in the work of New York Times bestselling Sarah Addison Allen. Her most recent book, 2011’s The Peach Keeper (Bantam), is a memorable example of the best of the type of fiction that this author is becoming known for.

Secrets long hidden come to light in the garden of a grand home built by one of Willa Jackson’s ancestors. The results of the discovery put the faded Southern Belle at odds with socialite Paxton Osgood, even while some of the buried truths reveal a shared history neither knew anything about.

Addison Allen has a deft touch with magical realism. She skates about as close to the edge of fantasy and magic as possible without ever really getting there. It is this that sets her work apart. She manages to weave elements of mystery, thriller and romance together with a bit of genuine fairy dust and wrap it all in the fragrance of magnolia. The Peach Keeper is a wonderful, memorable book. ◊

Sienna Powers is a transplanted Calgarian who lives and works in Vancouver, B.C. She is a writer and conceptual artist.

Holiday Gift Guide: Roadsworth by Roadsworth with Bethany Gibson

I want Roadsworth to come to my city. I want him to spawn a movement and encourage others everywhere to take up his special brush. It seems that Montreal, or parts of it, anyway, are much more beautiful due to his slightly subversive art.

I say “slightly” because it maybe isn’t as subversive as it once was, but even then it was pretty. In 2001, his art started appearing on the streets of Montreal. A giant zipper where a dividing line would be. A bathtub next to a storm drain. A flight of birds in the place of a crosswalk. In Roadsworth (Goose Lane) his initial motivations are explained:

While Roadsworth had been musing on questions of car culture, consumerism, advertising and the use of public space, it was the aftermath of September 11, 2001, that galvanized him to move from intention to active expression. He felt he had nothing to lose, that the state of the world was such that any illegal action on his part would be innocuous in the grand scheme of things.

And so it began: street art blooming overnight. By 2004, Roadsworth had created 300 pieces of art on the streets of Montreal. Something that looked as though it would come to and end when he was arrested in November of that year and charged with 51 counts of public mischief. However, an international movement sprang to his defense and he was ultimately let go with little beyond a warning. What looked like it would be the end became something of a beginning.

Now Roadsworth is an esteemed and internationally recognized artist. This small coffee table book in some ways confirms but also celebrates his work. It looks at his thoughts, his hopes his motivations and his goals. It is an interesting monograph and a visually stimulating collection. ◊


Sienna Powers is a transplanted Calgarian who lives and works in Vancouver, B.C. She is a writer and conceptual artist.