The Sign for Home - Blair Fell

It's no secret - I love to read and listen to books. I have my favourite genres but I really, really appreciate being caught off guard with something new, different or unexpected. Blair Fell's new novel The Sign for Home is one of those books.

Arlo Dilly is a young DeafBlind man, a Jehovah’s Witness and is under his uncle's guardianship. His life is strictly regimented by that uncle - no friends, no extracurricular activities, just church work, no internet, no video phone, just a narrow, prescribed life. Arlo finally convinces Brother Birch to let him take a creative writing class at the local community college. He’s put on strict warning to behave and another JW will act as his ASL interpreter. When a second interpreter is needed, that's when Cyril comes in.

We come to know Arlo bit by bit through his inner thoughts and his writing. A reference to something and/or someone in his past tantalizingly unfolds as Arlo finds his voice and his wings, slowly but surely. Cyril is a part of that, wanting more for his client. He too has his own memories that he needs to confront. He's not perfect, but he tries to be and do the best he can. Sanctimonious Brother Birch had me shouting out loud - he made me so angry! Cyril's best friend Hanne is a free spirit who doesn't hear the word no.

I would’ve loved this book if I read it, but I chose to listen - and that was the perfect choice for this story. I always feel immersed in a story when I listen. I was thrilled to find that it was the author himself narrating his own work. Fell actually works as an ACL interpreter. He knows what he’s writing about  and his work has that ring of authenticity. Fell is a very expressive reader. He captures the loneliness, frustration, sadness, anger, hope and love that Arlo experiences. Arlo 'speaks' in staccato bursts that I feel are an accurate depiction. Fell provides different voices for the supporting cast that make it easy to know who is speaking. His voice is clear and easy to understand. A great book and a great performance. Hear for yourself - listen to an audio excerpt of The Sign for Home. 

Arlo's awakening and reckoning made for a 'just one more chapter' listen, keeping me up 'til late at night. The Sign for Home is gut wrenchingly good and heartbreakingly sad. You’re gonna love it. Absolutely, positively recommended. An easy five stars.

Anywhere For You - Abbie Greaves

There's something about reading a first chapter and thinking 'I've stumbled onto something really good here..." Well, it didn't take a full chapter to know that I was going to love Abbie Greaves' new novel, Anywhere for You. I was hooked immediately.

Mary O'Connor finishes her shift at the grocery store every day and heads to Ealing Station. There, she stands in the same place day after day, holding up her sign that reads 'Come Home Jim'. She's kept this routine for seven years....

Okay, my curiosity was peaked - I needed to know more about Mary, why is she looking for Jim, who is Jim, where has he gone?  Alice, a young reporter who needs a story to save her job sees the answer to her problems in Mary's story. Maybe she can even find Jim...

Greaves tells Mary's story in alternating chapters from present and past. I love this style of storytelling - it's guaranteed to keep me up late reading one more chapter as we slowly get to know who Jim was and what he meant to Mary. What a brilliant lead Greaves has created. My feelings for Mary ran the gamut - sad, happy, worried and more. All of the other players are just as well portrayed. Alice also has her own chapters and she too has 'baggage' - and a good heart. The supporting cast is made up of Ted, Olive and Kit - all volunteers at the local helpline. (I adored Kit.) And they too are harboring their own heartaches.

The journey to Jim's whereabouts is so very, very good. Greaves' writing is wonderful. I was caught up in the story from start to finish, I genuinely cared about the characters and the message woven into the book is true, timely and more. Anywhere for You is by turns heartbreaking, heartwarming and life affirming.  Definitely recommended. 

A Funny Kind of Paradise - Jo Owens

It was this description from Penguin Random House Canada that had me picking up Jo Owens' debut novel, A Funny Kind of Paradise. 

"A poignant, uplifting, brilliantly insightful story of one woman's end-of-life reckoning with her past, her lost daughter and herself, for readers of The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, Still Alice and Elizabeth Is Missing."

If you're of a certain age, you will have spent time visiting loved ones in care facilities. I have. And it's hard. I read the first few chapters and thought - I just don't know if I can read this one. But, I did pick it up again - and ended up loving it.

Francesca is the lead character. She is in a care facility as she can't look after herself - a stroke has robbed her of her voice, her mobility, her ability to eat and more. But she still understands everything being said.

Francesca: "And nobody wants to lie there like a vegetable. We don't want it for ourselves, nor for our loved ones. Better to die quickly than to endure a half life. That's what we think. But I surprised myself. I just want to live."

Owens tell her story from past and present as Francesca remembers her children Christopher and Angelina and her best friend Anna. As well as recalling her drive to succeed, her parenting skills or lack thereof, her attitude towards life, brusque manner and more. She's seeing from a different point of view now she's reflecting on her life. At the mercy of others for her care, Franny's world grows smaller as her heart grows bigger. Stripped of the extraneous, Francesca finds comfort in the smaller things and connects with people in a way she didn't before the stroke.

We also meet other residents in the five bed room as they come and go. But it is the care workers that truly open up Franny's eyes and heart as they become the larger part of her life. Their conversations, both work related and personal, are told in italicized font. Their styles of care and attitudes are all different, but for the most part they care about the residents. The conversations are at times brutal in their honesty. 

Now, here's the thing....Owens has worked as a health care aide for twenty years in Canada. She knows what she writes. There is one long term carer named Molly that I really liked - and I think maybe there's more than a bit of Owens' self woven into this character. Owens also points out in the author's notes that "I want to mention that the care aides in this book are appallingly ad about talking shop in front of the residents, which is a professional no-no. I let them talk that way, even though they're good aides) and should know better, because I want to write about what actually happens, rather than what ought to happen."

A Funny Kind of Paradise is a heartbreaking, heartwarming read that will have you thinking of what is important and what you truly value in life. 

"But this is nothing like my old life, that's for sure. So I guess I could say it's a funny kind of paradise for me too." Read an excerpt of A Funny Kind of Paradise.

You can connect with Jo Owens on her website and follow her on Twitter.