|
|
October 3, 2008
Award-winning effort
John Miller's latest leaves you wanting more.
NICOLE NOZICK
This is the first in a monthly series co-ordinated by the Isaac Waldman Jewish Public Library and the Jewish Independent, featuring local community leaders reviewing books that they have recently read.
Let me be frank and cut to the chase: while John Miller's prize-winning novel A Sharp Intake of Breath is an enjoyable book and a delightful yarn, it is easily forgotten the following day. Although the novel lacks a certain depth and offers neither sharp insights nor lyrical text, it is an intriguing story and, to some extent, touching. As well, everyone, even the most discerning bibliophile, needs an easy read of quality to curl up with once in a while, and even more so as the cold nights of winter approach.
Perhaps my reaction to this second novel by Miller can be best summed up in a review from Andrew Armitage of the Owen Sound Sun Times, who writes: "A story of courage and sacrifice, it is a solid second novel for a writer of promise and one that left me waiting for more."
A Sharp Intake of Breath tells the story of Toshy Wolfman, born in 1920s Toronto and disfigured by an unsightly birth defect – a cleft palate. The affliction leaves Toshy deeply scarred, both emotionally and physically, as his family, doctors and teachers quickly determine that he is "slow" and "dim-witted." In time, Toshy is able to overcome these harsh stereotypes and grows up to be an unexpected hero. Not the conventional type who wears a cape and saves live the damsel in distress, but a hero nonetheless who, after spending 11 years incarcerated in the Kingston Penitentiary, emerges with a quiet strength and self-confidence. Toshy also has some dark secrets that he keeps close, until, at the ripe age of 87, he spills the beans to his handsome nephew, concluding the story with an unexpected and surprisingly emotional twist.
In this novel, Miller uses a popular and rather time-worn technique employed by many popular novelists – going back and forth in time. He goes between modern-day Toronto (in 2006), where the geriatric Toshy and his ailing, octogenarian sister, Bessie, live in an old-age home, and the heyday of Toronto in the 1940s and '50s. Toshy came of age at a time of unprecedented social upheaval and he was swept up in the fever along with his revolutionary sister, Lil, a devotee of the famous Jewish anarchist and activist Emma Goldman. This element adds a welcome dimension to the book: Miller's well-researched information about Goldman and the feminist movement of Canada is both educational and gripping.
A Sharp Intake of Breath was published more than a year ago (January 2007) by the Dundurn Group and went directly to paperback. As a discerning reader, this may leave you wondering what has brought his book to the forefront now. And you may also be questioning why he has been invited as a featured author to the Cherie Smith JCC Jewish Book Festival this November. After all, a year in the life of a published novel is more like a decade, unless you're talented enough to receive an acclaimed prize – and this is just what the young writer has done. This past June, the promise-filled Miller was awarded the prestigious 2008 Canadian Jewish Book in Fiction. The esteemed award honors Canadian Jewish writers in all the genre categories, and has been singling out Canadian Jewish writers of note for the past 20 years.
I leave you with a final quote from the influential literary monthly Quill & Quire, who had this to say shortly after the publication of Miller's book: "... it resounds with a unique and authentic voice, filled with the resonance of the Jewish immigrant community in 1930s Toronto.... A Sharp Intake of Breath is a heartwarming and potent piece of fiction. Miller has created a world that is welcoming, intriguing, heartfelt and genuine."
Nicole Nozick is the director of the annual Cherie Smith JCC Jewish Book Festival. John Miller will be appearing at the festival in a moderated panel discussion together with acclaimed emerging writer Stephen Marche on Monday, Nov. 24, at 8 p.m.
^TOP
|
|
