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Loading... That Time I Loved You: Stories (2018)by Carrianne Leung
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Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. No current Talk conversations about this book. From Amazon: "The suburbs of the 1970s promised to be heaven on earth—new houses, new status, happiness guaranteed. But in a Scarborough subdivision populated by newcomers from all over the world, a series of sudden catastrophic events reveals that not everyone’s dreams come true. Moving from house to house, Carrianne Leung explores the inner lives behind the tidy front gardens and picture-perfect windows(.)" Set between 1979 and 1981, years I remember well, being a mom with a school-aged child, this book of linked stories is achingly beautiful. Leung captures those years perfectly. Recommended for every reader of literary fiction. no reviews | add a review
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In a shiny new subdivision in 1970s Toronto, Marilyn greets new neighbors with fresh-baked cookies before she starts stealing from them. Stay-at-home-wife Francesca believes passion is just one yard away, only in the arms of another man. And Darren doesn't understand why his mother insists he keep his head down, even though he gets good grades like his white friends. When a series of inexplicable suicides begin to haunt their community, no one is more fascinated by the terrible phenomenon than young June. The daughter of Chinese immigrants, she sits hawk-eyed at the center, bearing witness to the truth behind pulled curtains: the affairs, the racism, the hidden abuses. No library descriptions found. |
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Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)813.6Literature English (North America) American fiction 21st CenturyLC ClassificationRatingAverage:
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Leung presents the narratives of diverse group of mostly first-generation Canadians: Chinese, Portuguese, Jamaican, Indian, and Italian. Many stories are from the point of view of older children, friends of young Chinese-Canadian June, who is the closest thing to a protagonist in Leung’s book. The stories explore the underbelly of superficially neat, cookie-cutter-uniform suburban life in the late 1970s and early 1980s. As the collection opens, there has been a spate of parent suicides: a kids’ soccer coach, an alienated and mentally ill Portuguese mother of a teen-aged son, and a young woman with small children. Other “pathologies” are considered, too: a well-regarded school teacher is deeply racist; one retired accountant is a kleptomaniac; there’s domestic abuse; and one child character’s uncle has problems with sexual boundaries. This is an easily read, undemanding collection that provides a wonderful snapshot of a Toronto suburb at a particular moment in time.
Rating: 3.5/5 ( )