December 29, 2022

Grey County Reads: All My Puny Sorrows by Miriam Toews

BY SOUTHGREY.CA STAFF — A new reader this year may be a familiar name — Kimberley Love is a past candidate for the Liberal Party of Canada in the riding of Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound. Kimberley’s family has deep roots in rural Grey County, and she and husband Glen still maintain a maple syrup operation near Hopeville. Now semi-retired from a career in marketing communications and public relations, Kimberley and her husband split their time between home in Owen Sound and an idyllic spot in the Scottish highlands.

Ms. Love has chosen to read Miriam Toews' All My Puny Sorrows — a #1 national bestseller about two unforgettable sisters and and a love that illuminates life. The book was adapted for film and released in theatres to positive reviews in 2022.

On their website, publisher Penguin Random House describes the story of Elf and Yoli, who are are two smart, loving sisters leading very different lives. Elfreida is a renowned pianist, wealthy, and happily married. Her younger sister Yolandi is a writer, divorced, broke, and forever chasing after the wrong men in her search for true love. But Elf is struggling with her demons, and Yoli doesn't know what to do. Elf wants to die and wants Yoli to help her. Yoli desperately wants her sister to live. Three weeks before her highly-anticipated international tour, Elf lands in the hospital after her latest suicide attempt. There's doubt that she will be well in time, but Elf doesn't seem to care. As the bounds of the sisters' love for each other are tested, Yoli faces a decision that will forever change her life—and Elf's.

A multi-award-winning, critically acclaimed masterpiece, All My Puny Sorrows shows Toews at the height of her craft, making you smile while she breaks your heart.

Miriam Toews is the author of seven bestselling novels. Her book Women Talking was one of the contenders in the 2022 Grey County Reads contest. She is a winner of the Governor General’s Award for Fiction, the Libris Award for Fiction Book of the Year, the Rogers Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize, and the Writers Trust Marian Engel/Timothy Findley Award. She lives in Toronto.

 

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