The Erratics
2 journalers for this copy...
Dark, sharp, blackly funny and powerful, this is memoir, wielded as weapon, with the tightly compressed energy of an explosive device.
'We've been disowned and disinherited: there's not changing it, I say. When something bad happens to them, we'll know soon enough and we'll deal with it together. I don't realise it at the time, but when I say that, I imply I care. I imply there may be something to be salvaged. I misspeak. But I'm flying out anyway. Blood calls to blood; what can I tell you.'
This is a memoir about a dysfunctional family, about a mother and her daughters. But make no mistake. This is like no mother-daughter relationship you know.
When Vicki Laveau-Harvie's elderly mother is hospitalised unexpectedly, Vicki and her sister travel to their parents' isolated ranch home in Alberta, Canada, to help their father. Estranged from their parents for many years, Vicki and her sister are horrified by what they discover on their arrival. For years, Vicki's mother has camouflaged her manic delusions and savage unpredictability, and over the decades she has managed to shut herself and her husband away from the outside world, systematically starving him and making him a virtual prisoner in his own home. Vicki and her sister have a lot to do, in very little time, to save their father. And at every step they have to contend with their mother, whose favourite phrase during their childhood was: 'I'll get you and you won't even know I'm doing it.'
A ferocious, sharp, darkly funny and wholly compelling memoir of families, the pain they can inflict and the legacy they leave, The Erratics has the tightly coiled, compressed energy of an explosive device - it will take your breath away.
Winner of the 2019 Stella Prize
Winner of the 2018 Finch Memoir Prize
Shortlisted for the 2019 NSW Premier's Literary Awards.
'We've been disowned and disinherited: there's not changing it, I say. When something bad happens to them, we'll know soon enough and we'll deal with it together. I don't realise it at the time, but when I say that, I imply I care. I imply there may be something to be salvaged. I misspeak. But I'm flying out anyway. Blood calls to blood; what can I tell you.'
This is a memoir about a dysfunctional family, about a mother and her daughters. But make no mistake. This is like no mother-daughter relationship you know.
When Vicki Laveau-Harvie's elderly mother is hospitalised unexpectedly, Vicki and her sister travel to their parents' isolated ranch home in Alberta, Canada, to help their father. Estranged from their parents for many years, Vicki and her sister are horrified by what they discover on their arrival. For years, Vicki's mother has camouflaged her manic delusions and savage unpredictability, and over the decades she has managed to shut herself and her husband away from the outside world, systematically starving him and making him a virtual prisoner in his own home. Vicki and her sister have a lot to do, in very little time, to save their father. And at every step they have to contend with their mother, whose favourite phrase during their childhood was: 'I'll get you and you won't even know I'm doing it.'
A ferocious, sharp, darkly funny and wholly compelling memoir of families, the pain they can inflict and the legacy they leave, The Erratics has the tightly coiled, compressed energy of an explosive device - it will take your breath away.
Winner of the 2019 Stella Prize
Winner of the 2018 Finch Memoir Prize
Shortlisted for the 2019 NSW Premier's Literary Awards.
I picked this copy up at library books sale - it may even be the copy I read last year! We lived in Calgary, Alberta when I was younger so I could relate to some of the description of the country included in this book.
It was an unusual book though (scary in a way, as it's based on fact) but I don't want to say more until the next BCer to whom I've sent it, has a chance to read it.
It was an unusual book though (scary in a way, as it's based on fact) but I don't want to say more until the next BCer to whom I've sent it, has a chance to read it.
This traveler has arrived in a package with lots of other surprises for my Birthday! Wow! Thank you ukcanaus! I've checked the book and read the cover - it's a memoir and you've got me so interested that I want to start reading it, but I mustn't, because I have this bad habbit of starting too many books and reading them all at the same time! I'll control myself and get to it later. Looking forward!!! Will let you know ..... xxxx
Journal Entry 4 by Carole888 at Perth City, Western Australia Australia on Friday, December 11, 2020
An unusual read as it is a true story based on the Author's life. This is dark but there were also parts that made me smile. It brought out mixed emotions and I kept on reading. I can understand why this won the Stella Prize in 2019. This was a beautiful read, for despite those dark moments, there was a great deal of positivity. I also loved the descriptions of the country and little snippets of information about the various locations too.
