Isabel Huggan

this book is wonderful!

the majority of the book is a memoir of place - the search for home. not just the physical: the location and the structure, but also the feeling. feeling one is home is a big deal. at least it is to me, anyway. it's been something i have been hoping to find my whole life.

huggan gives voice to this search, this sensation and does it so beautifully and naturally. there's a lot of excavation of memory that goes on in the telling and it felt very much like i was just show more listening to huggan in conversation. also contained in the story are small snippets of huggan's writing life, something i really appreciated. at the end of the memoir, 3 short stories are included and for me they were a bit of a revelation. i always feel like i don't 'get' short stories - that i have either been left hanging (THAT'S IT??) or that i have missed something (WHAT HAPPENED?). here, these three short stories are each like a wee vignette - nothing major happens, but a slice of life is examined.

i think this will be a book i buy and give to people. a lot. it was an affecting read. show less

Iconic collection of linked coming-of-age stories by one of Canada's best writers. This is one of those rare books that sets a standard to which others must aspire. Narrated in precise, metaphor-rich language that leaves an indelible impression on the reader. A classic of Canadian literature and absolutely essential reading for anyone who wants to write short stories.

(Nonfiction, Travel, Canadian)

Canadian author Isabel Huggan & her husband fell in love with southern France on a holiday trip there and decided to relocate their home to where they had left their hearts. They intended it to be ‘home’, not a holiday house nor a second home but their permanent residence.

I choose to think that those of us who settle here permanently—définitivement—are more kindly looked upon than those who just drop in for a few weeks of sunny weather. But I may be show more fooling myself.

Huggan explores the concept of ‘belonging” not only in relation to fitting in and becoming a part of the French community, but also in relation to no longer ‘belonging’ in Canada when they visit.

Although I had initially thought that the part about acclimatizing to France would be the bit that ‘spoke’ to me, her thoughts on no longer belonging to her native land resonated more with me. I was born and raised and lived the first 48 years of my life in Ontario, but now that we have been in Nova Scotia for nearly 15 years, we find Ontario to be a foreign country when we visit.

It’s well worth reading this lovely narrative.

4 stars show less

Short stories about women. Very good the one about this expat wife in Kenya being shown the ropes and her sense of insecurity and improper kindness to servants.