Angie Abdou

I am sadly not familiar with Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales, so I cannot comment on Angie Adbou's adherence or deviations to the original plot. What I can say is that Adbou is a first-class writer who captures the fluidity and exertions of the human body like few others. While her debut novel The Bone Cage was far more centered around a sports theme, Trail shows that Adbou really knows her stuff when it comes to the white powder and those who live to frolic in it. Adbou understands show more that sex, drugs, and alcohol are key components of the lifestyle, but she never lets the stereotypes become, well, stereotypical. These ski bums, mountain men, snow bunnies, and extreme snowboarders may be the equivalent of Canadian archetypes, but Adbou cannily subverts our expectations at every turn, finding unexpected pockets of humanity beneath the layers of Gore-Tex. This is not an A-to-Z type of plot; it meanders down back roads and hidden paths, and not every trek is a winner. But the whole is definitely greater than the sum, and for those with a taste for the offbeat and a fearlessness when it comes to a challenge, The Canterbury Trail offers up a plethora of pleasures.

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I picked this book up on a whim. I saw it recommended in an issue of Elle Canada magazine, and it sounded intriguing enough that I immediately went looking for it. I dove in with no expectations, having never heard of the author before, and I found myself pleasantly surprised.

Abdou writes with heartfelt candour, authenticity, and emotional openness. She wears her heart on her sleeve through most of this book. While her experiences have clearly been edited to fit a narrative format, they ring show more true to anyone who's ever been a parent, a writer, or simply unwittingly found herself at the mercy of the internet's undeserved fury.

I appreciated the backdrop of nature's breathtaking beauty as Abdou explored her relationship with her daughter, her community, and herself. I read this book while gripped by what seemed to be a never-ending winter, and I found myself yearning for the sultry heat of hiking weather. Overall, this was a lyrical, compelling read, and I'm glad I picked it up. show less

When Vero, a white, middle-class housewife is immobilized by motherhood her husband Shane convinces her to hire a live-in nanny from the Philippines and Ligaya moves in. Guilty about the privilege that allows her to have help, Vero tries to equalize their relationship although, of course, she really cannot. Vero is just more powerful than Ligaya due to race and class and while Vero can pretend that she sees Ligaya as a peer she is just as smug and entitled as any other woman in her position. show more I became invested in their fraught dance and I admired how understandable, and at times funny, Abdou made this common, yet complex story. Halfway into the book, however, Shane convinces Vero to vacation at a sex resort and I definitely stopped laughing. When Vero and her husband become sexually engaged and friendly with another heterosexual couple it turns ugly. This section of the book left me cold and I read it over and over to understand its connection to the last part of the book when Ligaya and Vero seem more at peace with each other. Is Abdou proposing that due to gender, to the fact that they are both powerless at times and more powerful at others there is some understanding that can occur? Is it even true? Overall, a complicated book with powerful dynamics around race and class that will leave me ruminating about its message for some time. Thank you to Edelweiss for allowing me to review this book. show less

This book is really hard to categorize; it's like a cross between a ghost story and historical fiction, mixed in with some magical realism. And it works beautifully.

The story is haunting in its prose and in the way it takes the present and blends it with the past. It speaks about regrets and how one's sins can carry forward. There are so many layers to peel back with this story, and I love how it was steeped in facts about the Aboriginal community. In fact, the author did a fantastic job of show more representing this community and the hardships they have faced, which I really appreciated. There is an emphasis on the idea that the past cannot just stay buried and hidden; the truth will out, and we must pay for our consequences. This concept was stressed throughout the story and it is one we should all keep in mind. The story itself was extremely engaging, and I wanted to know more about Eli's transformation - and whether he would ever be himself again. This is a book that I know I will recommend to many people because it is beautiful, emotional, and deserves to be read. 5/5 stars from me.

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