Audrey Thomas (1) (1935–)
Author of Isobel Gunn
For other authors named Audrey Thomas, see the disambiguation page.
About the Author
Writer Audrey Thomas was born in Binginham, New York on November 17, 1935. She received her B.A. from Smith College in 1957 and her M.A. in English from the University of British Columbia in 1963, where she worked towards a Ph.D. in Anglo-Saxon language and literature. Following her return to show more Vancouver from Ghana, Thomas published her first collection of stories, Ten Green Bottles (1967), and then several novels: Mrs. Blood (1970), Songs My Mother Taught Me (1973), Latakia (1979), and Real Mothers (1981), a collection of stories. Thomas received the Marian Engel Award in 1987 and the Canada-Australia Literary Prize in 1990. She has won the B.C. Book Prize for fiction three times: for her novel Intertidal Life (1985), the short story collection Wild Blue Yonder (1991), and most recently for the novel Coming down from Wa (1995). She was nominated for the Governor General's Literary Award and Commonwealth Literature Prize in 1996. Thomas has taught creative writing at the University of Victoria and at the University of British Columbia and has been writer-in-residence at Concordia University, Simon Fraser University, and others. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Works by Audrey Thomas
Associated Works
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Common Knowledge
- Birthdate
- 1935-11-17
- Gender
- female
- Education
- Smith College
University of British Columbia - Occupations
- novelist
radio playwright
short story writer - Awards and honors
- B.C. Book Prize
ACTRA Award nominee
Canada-Scotland Writer's Literary Fellowship recipient (1985-86)
Marian Engel Award (1987)
Terasen Lifetime Achievement Award (1983)
W.O. Mitchell Award (2001) (show all 7)
Matt Cohen Prize (2003) - Short biography
- Audrey was born and raised in Binghamton, NY. She immigrated to BC in 1959, attended UBC and earned MA in English. From 1964 to 1966, she lived in Ghana, where she wrote her first published story, "If One Green Bottle..." It won her the Atlantic First Award from the Atlantic Monthly. Her first novel "Mrs. Blood", 1970, harkens back to her Ghanaian experience. Her books have been translated in several languages, and she has had 20 radio plays produced. She has received the Terasen Lifetime Achievement Award for an outstanding literary career in BC. Audrey has lived in Greece, France and UK, but since 1969, she has chiefly resided on Galiano Island.
- Nationality
- USA
Canada - Places of residence
- New York, USA
Galiano Island, British Columbia, Canada
Ghana
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Reviews
Local Customs is a novel based on the life, and more significantly, the death of Letitia Elizabeth Landon, who, as L. E. L., was a popular Romantic poet and novelist of the early nineteenth century. While the following biographical information may look spoilerish, it is very easily accessible historical fact, and is all laid out very early in the book. Letty was born in England in 1802. By the time she was 20, she was supporting herself, her mother, and her brother on the income from her show more writing. She lived independently in London and led an active social life. There were various scandalous rumours regarding her love life, and she remained single until her mid thirties. In 1838, she married George Maclean, governor of Cape Coast Castle on the Gold Coast of Africa (now Ghana), while he was in England on leave. Shortly after the wedding, they sailed to Africa, arriving in August. Two months later, Letty died under circumstances that were never entirely clear. Those are the basic facts. Beyond that, I don't know how much of the story as told in this novel is based directly on the author's research, and how much is speculation and dramatization.
Letty is the primary narrator, and tells us even before the first chapter that she is dead. Her story bounces back and forth in time a lot, as she describes her background, writing, courtship, marriage, and life and death in Africa. As the book progresses, several other narrators pitch in, sometimes telling their own stories, and sometimes retelling Letty's story from different perspectives. The use of multiple first person narrative voices is one of the most notable features of the book. It takes very little time to realize that everyone's honesty is questionable. Some topics that are significant to the plot are social class, colonialism, slavery, mental illness, and the place of women in society.
I had only one problem with the book, and that was purely a matter of personal preference. I do not like historical fiction that is based on real people's lives. So all the time that I was reading, I kept wondering which parts were true. Give me fiction or nonfiction, not a nebulous, in-between fictionalization. Aside from that, it was a very good book. Knowing the eventual outcome added to the subtly building tension. The multiple perspectives were handled well, creating conflict between word and deed. For example, two characters each tell us that they dislike the other because that person treats the servants badly, and cite instances. The serious issues are well-integrated into the story, sometimes obliquely, sometimes with a sledgehammer. The history feels realistic, and the characters express attitudes and concerns that are appropriate to the period. Sensory descriptions of tropical Africa permeate the narrative, with the relentless sound of the sea, the brilliant colours, the blowing sand, and the stifling heat. While obviously not a happy book, Local Customs does have its humorous moments and light spots. It provides history, character study, social commentary, and a puzzle to unravel. show less
Letty is the primary narrator, and tells us even before the first chapter that she is dead. Her story bounces back and forth in time a lot, as she describes her background, writing, courtship, marriage, and life and death in Africa. As the book progresses, several other narrators pitch in, sometimes telling their own stories, and sometimes retelling Letty's story from different perspectives. The use of multiple first person narrative voices is one of the most notable features of the book. It takes very little time to realize that everyone's honesty is questionable. Some topics that are significant to the plot are social class, colonialism, slavery, mental illness, and the place of women in society.
I had only one problem with the book, and that was purely a matter of personal preference. I do not like historical fiction that is based on real people's lives. So all the time that I was reading, I kept wondering which parts were true. Give me fiction or nonfiction, not a nebulous, in-between fictionalization. Aside from that, it was a very good book. Knowing the eventual outcome added to the subtly building tension. The multiple perspectives were handled well, creating conflict between word and deed. For example, two characters each tell us that they dislike the other because that person treats the servants badly, and cite instances. The serious issues are well-integrated into the story, sometimes obliquely, sometimes with a sledgehammer. The history feels realistic, and the characters express attitudes and concerns that are appropriate to the period. Sensory descriptions of tropical Africa permeate the narrative, with the relentless sound of the sea, the brilliant colours, the blowing sand, and the stifling heat. While obviously not a happy book, Local Customs does have its humorous moments and light spots. It provides history, character study, social commentary, and a puzzle to unravel. show less
3.5 stars
Isobel Gunn was a woman who grew up on the Orkney Islands (Scotland) in the late 1700s/early 1800s, but decided to disguise herself as a man in 1806 to get to Rupert's Land (part of what is now Canada). She worked as a man for over a year before giving birth to a son and being found out. Not much is known about the real Isobel Gunn.
This wasn't quite what I expected, as it was not told from Isobel's point of view. It was told from the point of view of a minister in Rupert's Land, a show more minister who also grew up in Orkney, and had met Isobel a couple of times when she was a little girl (although she didn't remember him). So, it initially took me a little bit to realize this and that the book wouldn't switch to Isobel's point of view. Once I finally gave in to that, it got a little more interesting for me in the second half of the book. Overall, it was good, just not quite what I expected show less
Isobel Gunn was a woman who grew up on the Orkney Islands (Scotland) in the late 1700s/early 1800s, but decided to disguise herself as a man in 1806 to get to Rupert's Land (part of what is now Canada). She worked as a man for over a year before giving birth to a son and being found out. Not much is known about the real Isobel Gunn.
This wasn't quite what I expected, as it was not told from Isobel's point of view. It was told from the point of view of a minister in Rupert's Land, a show more minister who also grew up in Orkney, and had met Isobel a couple of times when she was a little girl (although she didn't remember him). So, it initially took me a little bit to realize this and that the book wouldn't switch to Isobel's point of view. Once I finally gave in to that, it got a little more interesting for me in the second half of the book. Overall, it was good, just not quite what I expected show less
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