Welcome to Litsy!

Thanks for buying me a copy of this @Rissreads . I whizzed through this sad tale of two daughters trying to support difficult, aging parents. I might‘ve related a little given my own unconventional parents‘ recent demise. I have been asked by more than one aged care professional whether my mum had mental health issues (before she got dementia).

Interesting book to win The Stella Prize 🤔.

Thank you Carolyn for my book pouch , my book card , my bookmark & my new book that I‘m looking forward to... the black cherry chocolate didn‘t make it as far as the photo 😋yum , thankyou, Cathy X 😘 the cover of this book is so beautiful too 💜

An amazing, darkly funny memoir about two sisters in their seventies who, after being estranged from their nonagenarian parents for decades, return home to deal with a dire situation. Their mother is more than difficult: she‘s mentally ill, a manipulative & charming liar who‘s been starving their father & waking him every half hour at night. When she‘s hospitalized with a broken hip, the daughters take action. #Audiobook narrated by the author.

When winter comes, summer is the memory that keeps people going. The remembrance of a long slanting dusk, peonies massed along the path, blossoms as big as balloons, crimson satin petals deepening to the black of dried blood in the waning light.

I don‘t clean. My disinclination for this activity I call by various names: sloth, depression, boredom. It‘s not that I dislike clean. I like it when it‘s done but I don‘t want to do it.

My sister doesn‘t want my mother‘s first set of china, or what remains of it. Royal Albert Old English Rose, the old pattern, with much more gold than they put around the edges of it now.
(Internet photo)

Horses, pigs & rainbow deer, oh my! Seen while #audiowalking.

The authors first book - at 77 years old! A memoir about her mother‘s knack for twisting reality.

Amazing memoir. Incredibly honest retelling.

I enjoyed the book once I got going and agree it‘s a memoir that reads like a novel. But there were parts for me where I wanted more. A lot is left unsaid which left the experience feeling a little disjointed for me. It really is unlike any memoir I‘ve ever read. I‘ll probably be thinking about it for a while.

This year‘s #stellaprize winner is a very strange but beautifully (if unusually) written memoir of two sisters dealing with the fall out of ageing parents. Although in this case the mother is bats*$t crazy and at serious risk of killing her dominated husband or send them both broke chasing internet scams.

It‘s the end of the school holidays here. My kids have been madly building LEGO creations - this one is a boarding school - while I‘ve been reading this remarkable memoir. #stellaprize

Have convinced #Stella that the footstool is a completely suitable place for sitting, in lieu of my lap, but she keeps throwing me the side eye if I dare to move my foot. Apparently the pibble princess requires pillows and support for her chin.
#Suzie is much less particular.

The Erratics is, in my opinion, the best kind of memoir- one that reads like a novel, that when you stop reading you marvel that it is true. Laveau-Harvie‘s tells the story of the psychologically damaging nature of the relationship between parents and children that endured in her family throughout her parents‘ lives. This is an exceptional story, that is told with a level of tenderness, and vulnerable honesty.

Tackling the #Stellaprize winner this week

Our latest episode is up! @mr_annie & I discuss the Women‘s Prize Shortlist 📚 (so many thoughts) & ‘The Erratics‘. A darkly funny memoir about caring for ageing parents in Canada, this won the 2019 Stella Prize & is becoming one of the most talked-about books of the year.
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Apt for Mother‘s Day - with a twist: unlike any mother-daughter story you‘ve ever read. Vicki Laveau-Harvie‘s mother is one of the great characters of all time. Recommended.

Read on two sittings and it gave me nightmares in between. I‘m going to have to process this a bit more. Also the most accurate description of the experience of medically induced ‘roid rage. I can see why it won the Finch Memoir Prize and am pleased it beat some of the others on the Stella Prize short list but still not convinced it should have won.

Perfect Saturday morning. Husband snoring in bed with the dogs, a big pot of decaf, favourite cup and this beautiful autumn light.

“I blame the landscape, pining like a suitorless spinster for the snow...” I‘m going to enjoy this!

I loved this memoir. Vicki Laveau-Harvie tells the story of her parents with warmth, dark humour & compelling, can‘t-put-it-down prose. Her parents are dysfunctional & her mother a villain - you could not make up these stories. Laveau-Harvie is honest about how this has affected her, but sees the comic side & is a wonderfully warm, engaging story-teller. A unique story but the family issues will resonate widely. Highly recommended. #StellaPrize