Home Feed
Home
Search
Search
Add Review, Blurb, Quote
Add
Activity
Activity
Profile
Profile
Certainty
Certainty: A Novel | Madeleine Thien
27 posts | 7 read | 22 to read
Madeleine Thien's stunning debut novel hauntingly retells a crucial moment in history, through two unforgettable love stories. Gail Lim, a producer of radio documentaries, is haunted by the mystery of her father's Asian past. As a child, Gail's father, Matthew Lim, lived in a Malaysian village occupied by the Japanese. He and his beloved Ani wandered the jungle fringe under the terrifying shadow of war. The war shattered their families, splitting the two apart until a brief reunion years later. Matthew's profound connection to Ani and the life-changing secrets they shared cast a shadow that, later still, Matthew's wife, Clara, desperately sought to understand. Gail's journey to unravel the mystery of her parents' lives takes her to Amsterdam, where she unearths more about this mysterious other woman. But as Gail approaches the truth, Ani's story will bring Gail face-to-face, with the untold mysteries of her own life. Vivid, poignant, and written in understated yet powerful prose, CERTAINTY is a novel about the legacies of loss, the dislocations of war, and the timeless redemption afforded by love.
Amazon Indiebound Barnes and Noble WorldCat Goodreads LibraryThing
Pick icon
100%
review
mirnas
Certainty: A Novel | Madeleine Thien
post image
Pickpick

Beautifully written Thien's first novel about Gail who tries to unravel the mistery of her father's past. A story about love, loss, death, war, displacement, trauma, migration...

Hrvatski prijevod u izdanju Disputa.

review
Moray_Reads
Certainty: A Novel | Madeleine Thien
post image
Pickpick

Another exquisitely written novel on loss and guilt and history and finding, and accepting, one's place(s) in the world. It's not quite as astonishingly good as Do Not Say We Have Nothing but Thien's prose is graceful and elegant and it's crystalline clarity cuts both gentle and deep. Beautiful. Heartbreaking.

38 likes3 stack adds
quote
Moray_Reads
Certainty: A Novel | Madeleine Thien
post image

blurb
Moray_Reads
Certainty: A Novel | Madeleine Thien
post image

Yesterday I ventured out into Scotland's rainy excuse for a summer to wander round Abbotsford House but today I absolutely refuse. I will stay in bed with a new book and a cup of tea with the sound of music and rain in the background #weekendgoals

Lcsmcat Is this as good as Do Not Say We Have Nothing? I loved that one. 7y
Moray_Reads @Lcsmcat only one paragraph in but even that is beautiful! 7y
charl08 Adding it to the wishlist! 7y
Suet624 That sounds perfect. 7y
60 likes4 stack adds4 comments
review
sisilia
Certainty: A Novel | Madeleine Thien
Pickpick

I was skeptical when I started this book. I was hoping that it's not just another war story. I'm glad that Thien came out with this beautiful prose. It's such a mellow story, weaving in and out the human emotions. I love it! 😍

blurb
sisilia
Certainty: A Novel | Madeleine Thien
post image

Saturday morning. McDonald's breakfast and the remaining half of Certainty

review
shawnmooney
Certainty: A Novel | Madeleine Thien
post image
Pickpick

Do Not Say We Have Nothing is the best novel I've ever read, so I was interested (and a little nervous) to read this, Thien's debut novel. I loved it so much too! It's not the masterpiece that DNSWHN is, but Thien sensitively explores many of the same themes here: grief, war, and displacement tearing families and psyches asunder, an intercontinental love triangle, a near-indecipherable diary. I'm calling it: Thien is my favorite novelist.

Spiderfelt That is high praise. I would agree that Thien is an extraordinary writer. 8y
saresmoore There isn't a Marsha-getting-hit-in-the-face-with-a-football .gif big enough to express my reaction to this proclamation! I'm definitely forsaking all other current reads and starting DNSWHN tonight! 8y
JazzFeathers Sounds like a very interesting one. Thanks so much for sharing, l have never heard of this author before 8y
shawnmooney @JazzFeathers Oh really? In that case, you might want to start with 8y
JazzFeathers @shawnmooney thanks for the tip ;) 8y
49 likes2 stack adds5 comments
quote
shawnmooney
Certainty: A Novel | Madeleine Thien
post image

quote
shawnmooney
Certainty: A Novel | Madeleine Thien
post image

Books_Wine_Repeat Love this! ❤❤❤ 8y
EP25 Nederlands! (Dutch) :) 8y
Dragon Lovely quote 👍 8y
38 likes3 comments
blurb
sisilia
Certainty: A Novel | Madeleine Thien
post image

Because it's Sunday afternoon and I cannot digest any more of Infinite Jest

shawnmooney Really? Oh great! I am 80% through and really loving it - but her masterpiece is 8y
sisilia @shawnmooney That's on my TBR 😊 I heard only good things about it 8y
shawnmooney It's great that you're reading this first - she explores some of the same themes in Do Not Say with even more power. 8y
24 likes3 comments
quote
shawnmooney
Certainty: A Novel | Madeleine Thien
post image

saresmoore Beautiful. 8y
slhbooks I read that and thought 'oh no, another I have to stack!' And then I saw that I've already done that☺️ 8y
31 likes2 comments
quote
shawnmooney
Certainty: A Novel | Madeleine Thien
post image

quote
shawnmooney
Certainty: A Novel | Madeleine Thien
post image

quote
shawnmooney
Certainty: A Novel | Madeleine Thien
post image

Lindy Madeleine Thien will be giving a reading at the U of A next month. I plan to be there. 😎 8y
shawnmooney So jealous! 😍😍😍 8y
readordierachel What a beautiful quote. 8y
41 likes1 stack add3 comments
quote
shawnmooney
Certainty: A Novel | Madeleine Thien
post image

The year after Thien's 2006 novel was published, it was discovered that the details of Naki's life had been grossly embellished. He was not involved in the heart transplant at all.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamilton_Naki

LeahBergen Interesting. Is this one grabbing you as much as Do Not Say We Have Nothing did? 8y
shawnmooney @LeahBergen I'm about 30% of the way in. No, not THAT much – I doubt I'll read another novel that has such a tremendous effect on me for decades – but I can happily say I'm loving this one! 8y
34 likes2 comments
quote
shawnmooney
Certainty: A Novel | Madeleine Thien
post image

saresmoore More pressingly! 8y
shawnmooney @sarrsmoore Aren't giraffes the center of your cosmology? :-) 8y
40 likes2 comments
quote
shawnmooney
Certainty: A Novel | Madeleine Thien
post image

quote
shawnmooney
Certainty: A Novel | Madeleine Thien
post image

quote
shawnmooney
Certainty: A Novel | Madeleine Thien
post image

Suet624 😩😩😩 8y
23 likes1 comment
quote
shawnmooney
Certainty: A Novel | Madeleine Thien
post image

Wow, may have to pull an all-nighter, the way this story's unfolding! (Who am I kidding? My all-nighter days are long behind me… :-)

43 likes3 stack adds
quote
shawnmooney
Certainty: A Novel | Madeleine Thien
post image

andrew61 Do not say.... Was one of my best books of the year so i will look for this. 8y
shawnmooney @andrew61 For me, Do Not Say became my all-time favorite novel, not just of 2016. So far, Certainty is also really wowing me!! 8y
35 likes2 comments
quote
shawnmooney
Certainty: A Novel | Madeleine Thien
post image

Hobbinol ❄️💙❄️💙❄️💙❄️ 8y
27 likes1 comment
quote
shawnmooney
Certainty: A Novel | Madeleine Thien
post image

Thien's 'Do Not Say We Have Nothing' is the best novel I've ever read. This, her first, has already wowed me too!
#BacklistBinge

blurb
shawnmooney
Certainty: A Novel | Madeleine Thien
post image

Because Do Not Say We Have Nothing was not only my top read of 2016 but supplanted Murakami's Wind-up Bird Chronicle as the best novel I've ever read, I must read Thien's entire backlist. I'll start with this in February for #BacklistBinge.

ErickaS_Flyleafunfurled Woah. Must get this! 8y
45 likes2 stack adds1 comment
review
Spiderfelt
Certainty: A Novel | Madeleine Thien
post image
Pickpick

There are as many ways to grieve as there are ways to love and to lose someone. This story dips into lives starting in Japanese occupied Borneo, through modern day Vancouver and Friesland, the Netherlands, illuminating a little bit of the story with each shift in perspective. The author wove medicine, history, cryptography, and radio into the narrative seamlessly, as if these areas of specialty were within her ordinary body of knowledge. #canlit

Spiderfelt I have so many more things to say about this elegant, lyrical book. It possesses a quiet beauty that speculates on the nature of life and loss while being so much more than just a book about the hurt passed through families. 8y
11 likes1 stack add1 comment
blurb
Spiderfelt
Certainty: A Novel | Madeleine Thien
post image

My son broke his leg two weeks ago, a week before his freshman year of high school. It's been a rough time for all of us. He is frustrated, disappointed, sad, lonely and in pain. Tonight he asked me to sit with him while I read, because he stayed home while his friends went to a football game. There are so many different kinds of pain, as Madeleine Thien expertly describes. I find comfort knowing that we grow from hardship. #canlit

Yournewfriendsams Sending healing thoughts to all of you ❤️ 8y
JessicaBates That sounds rough. Hugs and healing to your family. 💜 8y
Texreader Oh man poor kid!!! Hope he heals soon. 8y
17 likes4 comments
blurb
Spiderfelt
Certainty: A Novel | Madeleine Thien
post image

Doing what I can to promote Canadian authors at the Edmonds Library. Madeleine Thien and I attended the same high school in Vancouver BC. Thrilled to have her book in our collection. #canlit

Spiderfelt The theme of this display is award winners, and those almost award winners who were either long or shortlisted. There are a lot of literary prizes, which creates an eclectic mix of titles. 8y
3 likes2 stack adds1 comment