![]() ![]() Led by their pioneering eldest daughter, the family begins to break away from the conservative settlement of East Village, Manitoba, a journey that ends when the father kneels in front of a train. The Von Riesen family are Canadian Mennonites who were chased out of Russia in the early 20th century. Car doors break, shower curtains need replacing, even if it seems ironic that we bother with them at all-like the prisoner dodging a puddle on his way to the gallows. It captures the emotional clarity and shock of ordinariness that can occur even in our darkest moments. ![]() ![]() All My Puny Sorrows is a narrative of personal crisis-the majority of the action takes place around Elfrieda’s bed-and yet it is hilarious, charming and uncannily soothing. “A coronary event,” Yolandi jokes to a group of family friends, though they fail to see the funny side. Her two children are looking after themselves in Toronto while her aunt, Tina, has just arrived at the same hospital for an event. Her successful older sister, concert pianist Elfrieda, is in the psychiatric ward of a Winnipeg hospital following a second suicide attempt. Yolandi Von Riesen is making a list: “Airport, car door, buy a shower curtain, get divorced.” She has a lot on her mind. All My Puny Sorrows by Miriam Toews (Faber & Faber, £17.99) ![]()
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