Mad Hope
by Heather Birrell
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Pub Date Oct 16 2012 | Archive Date Mar 31 2013
Description
Journey Prize–winning author returns with a kaleidoscope of off-kilter short stories
In the stories of Mad Hope, Journey Prize winner Heather Birrell finds the heart of her characters and lets them lead us into worlds both recognizable and alarming. A science teacher and former doctor is forced to re-examine the role he played in Ceauşescu’s Romania after a student makes a shocking request; a tragic plane crash becomes the basis for a meditation on motherhood and its discontents; women in an online chat group share (and overshare) their anxieties and personal histories; and a chance encounter in a waiting room tests the ties that bind us.
Using precise, inventive language, Birrell creates astute and empathetic portraits of people we thought we knew – and deftly captures the lovely, maddening mess of being human.
Advance Praise
'A collection of 11 stories that beautifully illustrate the fragility of existence ... They transport the reader to emotionally corrosive places, yet are alive with a sense of levity even within their darkest passages.' – National Post
'Mad Hope is a bloody valentine to the city of Toronto ... Birrell allows us to see the ugly side of life without being overwhelmed by its darkness.' – Quill & Quire
'Toronto writer Heather Birrell has tapped into our dark Canadian psyche like a country witch with a crooked divining rod ... Mad Hope is hopeful yet realistic, wordy yet sublime. It contains everything a demanding reader wants from her short fiction – wickedly accurate, open-ended portraits drawn from life.' – Winnipeg Free Press
Available Editions
| EDITION | Paperback |
| ISBN | 9781552452585 |
| PRICE | $16.95 (USD) |
| PAGES | 232 |
