Read All Things Consoled A daughter memoir Elizabeth Hay 9780771039751 Books
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From Elizabeth Hay, one of Canada's beloved novelists, comes a startling and beautiful memoir about the drama of her parents' end, and the longer drama of being their daughter. Winner of the 2018 Hilary Weston Writers' Trust Prize for Nonficiton.
Jean and Gordon Hay were a colourful, formidable pair. Jean, a late-blooming artist with a marvellous sense of humour, was superlatively frugal; nothing got wasted, not even maggoty soup. Gordon was a proud and ambitious schoolteacher with a terrifying temper, a deep streak of melancholy, and a devotion to flowers, cars, words, and his wife. As old age collides with the tragedy of living too long, these once ferociously independent parents become
increasingly dependent on Lizzie, the so-called difficult child. By looking after them in their final decline, she hopes to prove that she can be a good daughter after all.
In this courageous memoir, written with tough-minded candour, tenderness, and wit, Elizabeth Hay lays bare the exquisite agony of a family's dynamics--entrenched favouritism, sibling rivalries, grievances that last for decades, genuine admiration, and enduring love. In the end, she reaches a more complete understanding of the most
unforgettable characters she will ever know, the vivid giants in her life who were her parents.
Read All Things Consoled A daughter memoir Elizabeth Hay 9780771039751 Books
"The first pages left me contemplating returning this book before I finished it. But I persisted and was rewarded with a memoir that slipped inside my barriers and captured my heart. I was never thrilled by the meandering path, which I found challenging to follow. But once I settled into the arrythmia of the book, I let go of linear expectations and settled into the wandering path the author laid out.
I grew up with a brother so similar to her father I found reading about him breathtaking. Apparently my father shared those traits, though I never knew him personally. Word has it my brother was very much like him - charismatic, engaging, bright, and mercurial. It was the last trait that made him a wrecking ball for those of us who lived most closely to him.
Hay's mother sounds very like my father's third wife. She recognized the wrecking ball he could be but did not buy into his anger. She adored him, and softened him, in the last chapter of his life. So I could appreciate and accept Hay's mother's deep love for her difficult spouse.
Hay's candour drew me in. Her devotion to her failing parents touched me deeply. Their deaths moved me more than I could have expected. So this memoir ranks among those that have touched me deeply."
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All Things Consoled A daughter memoir Elizabeth Hay 9780771039751 Books Reviews :
All Things Consoled A daughter memoir Elizabeth Hay 9780771039751 Books Reviews
- The first pages left me contemplating returning this book before I finished it. But I persisted and was rewarded with a memoir that slipped inside my barriers and captured my heart. I was never thrilled by the meandering path, which I found challenging to follow. But once I settled into the arrythmia of the book, I let go of linear expectations and settled into the wandering path the author laid out.
I grew up with a brother so similar to her father I found reading about him breathtaking. Apparently my father shared those traits, though I never knew him personally. Word has it my brother was very much like him - charismatic, engaging, bright, and mercurial. It was the last trait that made him a wrecking ball for those of us who lived most closely to him.
Hay's mother sounds very like my father's third wife. She recognized the wrecking ball he could be but did not buy into his anger. She adored him, and softened him, in the last chapter of his life. So I could appreciate and accept Hay's mother's deep love for her difficult spouse.
Hay's candour drew me in. Her devotion to her failing parents touched me deeply. Their deaths moved me more than I could have expected. So this memoir ranks among those that have touched me deeply. - 3.5 STARS - This was the first time I had read a book by Canadian author Elizabeth Hay. In All Things Consoled, she writes about her complicated relationship with her parents growing up as well as the changing dynamic between herself and her parents as they aged.
Hay's writing is frank, especially when she discusses her turbulent childhood and the complicated relationship she had with her parents. Through the ups and downs, her love for her parents is the focus of the book and there are some emotional scenes. There were some issues which were hard to read, and others were emotional so readers who can relate to dealing with aging parents may want to keep the Kleenex handy.
I couldn't relate as much to Hay's experiences and that may have influenced my feelings for the book. The vast majority of reviewers have raved about this book and while I feel odd rating someone's life experiences, I didn't feel as connected to the book as I had hoped.
Disclaimer My sincere thanks to the publisher for my complimentary copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
