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7th out of 10 books
—
5 voters
The Western Light
by
Susan Swan (Goodreads Author)
The Western Light is Susan Swan’s long-awaited return to the life of the beloved narrator Mary “Mouse” Bradford.
Mouse’s world is constrained by a number of factors: her mother is dead, her father – the admired country doctor – is emotionally distant, her housekeeper Sal is prejudiced and narrow, and her grandmother and aunt, Big Louie and Little Louie, the only life-affir...more
Mouse’s world is constrained by a number of factors: her mother is dead, her father – the admired country doctor – is emotionally distant, her housekeeper Sal is prejudiced and narrow, and her grandmother and aunt, Big Louie and Little Louie, the only life-affir...more
Hardcover, 320 pages
Published
September 1st 2012
by CORMORANT BOOKS INC (Sep 1 2012)
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I haven't read Swan's other books, but heard many good things about this one. It was a good read and well-plotted, but I found in many ways it left me detached. Mouse's relationships with the other characters kept being curtailed and subsequently losing focus. Even her lack of connection with her father wasn't, for me, deeply felt. We were told about it, but didn't experience it. And while Morley fit the cliche (and reality) of the ever-sacrificing family doctor of the fifties, the way in which...more
I had to read this book for an English class this semester. I really liked it because it showed the way many Canadians are obsessed with hockey, much in the same way Americans are obsessed over football. It not only explored the sport of hockey and its fans throughout the book, but it also centred around concussions and the effects they have on hockey players, which I think is completely relevant today when head injuries and concussions are such a hot topic within all levels of hockey.
Overall,...more
Overall,...more
Mar 06, 2013
BookShorts MovingStories.TV
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
book-to-film
Upfront and first confession - we made the trailer! http://www.movingstories.tv/westernli...
Second confession - Susan Swan and I have been undertaking various hijinks to bring her most excellent works to thronging audiences since The Last of the Golden Girls first release in paperback. That was in 1991 for those of you old enough to have been there! I'm a stalwart fan and totally number one groupie.
So there, that's all my confessions. Except the most important one, which is that I love this nov...more
Second confession - Susan Swan and I have been undertaking various hijinks to bring her most excellent works to thronging audiences since The Last of the Golden Girls first release in paperback. That was in 1991 for those of you old enough to have been there! I'm a stalwart fan and totally number one groupie.
So there, that's all my confessions. Except the most important one, which is that I love this nov...more
I so enjoyed this book – it is a true northern Canadian story set against the dramatic shore of Georgian Bay with hockey and family making up the bones of the novel. Mary Bradford is older than I am by a number of years and was unlucky enough to be a victim of the polio epidemics in the early 1950s. At the time of the novel she is a funny and smart 12 year old with a dead mother and a father who is a small town doctor totally devoted to his patients and loved by all. Poor Mouse misses out on her...more
This should be read by every high school student. A great coming-of-age novel which shows the confusion of what goes on inside a 12-year-old girl's head.
Page 307:
Now it's time for me to get to the part of my story where I learn what I needed to learn all along: most of the truths we seek lie in the extremes and although we have to travel to that rugged place to feel them in our bones, the extremes are no place to live. (...) I write a three-page letter to Big Louie explaining that I will soon be...more
Page 307:
Now it's time for me to get to the part of my story where I learn what I needed to learn all along: most of the truths we seek lie in the extremes and although we have to travel to that rugged place to feel them in our bones, the extremes are no place to live. (...) I write a three-page letter to Big Louie explaining that I will soon be...more
Susan Swan is a good writer, but I find that her subject matter is hit or miss with me. This was a miss.
This is the story of Mouse Bradford (the character from the Wives of Bath, which I loved) and her childhood. Her dad is a doctor and Mouse is pretty much neglected and left to her own devices.
She develops this very strange and creepy relationship with a hockey player who may have murdered his wife while he had a concussion.
The writing was good, but I just didn't care for the story. There was...more
This is the story of Mouse Bradford (the character from the Wives of Bath, which I loved) and her childhood. Her dad is a doctor and Mouse is pretty much neglected and left to her own devices.
She develops this very strange and creepy relationship with a hockey player who may have murdered his wife while he had a concussion.
The writing was good, but I just didn't care for the story. There was...more
If you're looking for more info on reviews, check out these links:
Review in The Toronto Star:
http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/...
Review in the Vancouver Sun:
http://www.vancouversun.com/entertain...
Letter to My Younger Self in The Vancouver Sun:
http://www.vancouversun.com/entertain...
Review in NOW magazine:
http://www.nowtoronto.com/books/story...
Review in Quill and Quire:
http://www.quillandquire.com/reviews/...
Chatelaine Review:
http://susanswanonline.com/wpress/wpc...
Interview on CFRU Gu...more
Review in The Toronto Star:
http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/...
Review in the Vancouver Sun:
http://www.vancouversun.com/entertain...
Letter to My Younger Self in The Vancouver Sun:
http://www.vancouversun.com/entertain...
Review in NOW magazine:
http://www.nowtoronto.com/books/story...
Review in Quill and Quire:
http://www.quillandquire.com/reviews/...
Chatelaine Review:
http://susanswanonline.com/wpress/wpc...
Interview on CFRU Gu...more
This was a stunning piece. You just fall in love with the characters (especially gentleman John Pilkie). And its such a treat to come back to the character of Mouse Bradford who was in Susan Swan's earlier work The Wives of Bath. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who likes a good read.
While I enjoyed the book, relished the local history and background, like the voice of the narrator, I couldn't help but go, really? There were parts of the story that I found a little farfetched and thus took away from the well written, well researched, well told,tale.
Oct 09, 2012
Penny
marked it as to-read
Added due to this review from Vancouver Sun -- "Twin Peaks"ish. Okay! http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Myst...
The writing and story telling is good with the exception of finding a way to excite the reader until the last 50 pages. I enjoyed the characters and the story line, but there was little motivation to keep reading.
Mary is a young girl who acts like an adult, she reminded me of Alan Bradley's 'Flavia De Luce'. People in the town of Madoc's Landing love hockey so when the 'hockey murderer' returns to his hometown it is only natural that Mary falls in love with him. The characters and landscapes are described beautifully in this captivating book. I have discovered a new author.
I hadn't realized that Mouse is a character revisited from The Wives of Bath, we get to see the 'young' Mouse in this book.
I hadn't realized that Mouse is a character revisited from The Wives of Bath, we get to see the 'young' Mouse in this book.
I picked this up after having freshly read The Wives of Bath by Swan and it was a good thing, as I wasn't quite ready to say goodbye to Mary "Mouse" Bradford - the narrator for both these books. First, Mary is one of the most engaging narrators I've read (I'm not usually a fan of first-person, but Mary is one of the few exceptions). Next, this book could be easily cast along some of our great Canadian novels, in its awareness of place (and our obsession with hockey). I look forward to hearing he...more
The main characters, Mary “Mouse” Bradford and Gentleman John Pilkie, were great characters. With that said, I am Canadian so I am well aware of the obsession of hockey in Canada but I am not a huge hockey fan myself and sometimes I felt like there was too much hockey in this book. Overall I liked this book.
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Journalist, feminist, novelist, activist, teacher, Susan Swan’s impact on the Canadian literary and political scene has been far-reaching. Susan Swan’s critically acclaimed fiction has been published in twenty countries. Her new novel, The Western Light, shares a heroine with her international bestseller, The Wives of Bath (published September 2012).
Swan’s last novel, What Casanova Told Me, was p...more
More about Susan Swan...
Swan’s last novel, What Casanova Told Me, was p...more
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