Fight Night
'A Gem: humour and hope in the face of suffering' Observer
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- 9,99 €
Description de l’éditeur
FROM THE WRITER OF THE OSCAR-WININNG WOMEN TALKING
INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLING AUTHOR
LONGLISTED FOR THE DUBLIN LITERARY AWARD
'Go Grandma Elvira!' Margaret Atwood
'Wickedly funny and fearlessly honest.' The New Yorker
'Glorious.' Sarah Moss
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You are a small thing, and you must learn to fight.
Swiv has taken this advice too literally. Now she's suspended from school, in the care of her foul-mouthed, hilarious grandmother.
Mom is busy being pregnant, so Grandma gives Swiv a very different education. Swiv learns maths with Amish jigsaws and How to Dig a Winter Grave. Grandma's methods may be unorthodox, but she has faced the worst of life with a wild, independent spirit and this is what she hopes to pass on.
Time is running short. Grandma's health is failing and the baby is on the way - can Grandma inspire this fire in Swiv, and ensure it never goes out?
Poignant, hilarious and deeply moving, Fight Night is a girl's love letter to the women raising her and a tribute to one family's fighting spirit.
'A love letter to our brave and brilliant matriarchs.' Glamour
'Miriam Toews is a genius.' R. O. Kwon
'As compelling and hilarious and indecently sad as life can be.' Financial Times
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Toews (Women Talking) continues her consideration of the theme of women's self-determination in this indelible and darkly hilarious portrait of an unforgettable Toronto family. Framed as a long letter to eight-year-old Swiv's absent father in her brisk, matter-of-fact voice, it also features letters to her mother and others. After being expelled from school for fighting, she grows closer to her larger-than-life grandmother, Elvira, who "has one foot in the grave" and dives into homeschooling with gusto, convening so-called editorial meetings and devising assignments to write letters to one another. Meanwhile, Swiv's mother, Mooshie, a pregnant actor, is prone to dramatic and sometimes violent mood swings, leading Swiv to fear Mooshie might succumb to the same mental illness that led to her aunt's and grandfather's suicides. The harder-edged Mooshie, who wants a "cold IPA and a holiday" for her birthday, and the exuberant Elvira, are both brash and fearless, traits that alternately embarrass and inspire Swiv. Through these women's letters and stories, readers glimpse histories of grief, loss, and abuse, making Grandma's assertion that "joy... is resistance" even more powerful. The moving conclusion, which has its roots in a plan for Swiv and Elvira to visit family members in California, shuns sentimentality and celebrates survival. Fierce and funny, this gives undeniable testimony to the life force of family. It's a knockout.
