The Barking Dog

by Cordelia Strube

At the top of her form, Canada's preeminent writer of new urban fiction brings forth her most powerful novel to date. Cordelia Strube conjures up a heart-breaking tale of madness and murder set against the ravages of cancer. In this, in her fifth novel, Strube tells the story of Greer Pentland, a forty-something realtor, who is battling cancer while struggling to find redemption and hope for her teenaged son Sam, who is on trial for the vicious murder of two senior citizens while sleepwalking. Despite the difficulties that Greer faces, including an ex-husband who wants to sell the house that she and her son live in, this is riveting, provocative, and mordantly funny novel. Strube's searing indictment of the medical profession and our media-saturated culture is masterfully fused together with a stream of new stories and wit making this an unforgettable read.

Genres: Fiction, Canada

418 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2000

About the author

Read an interview and an excerpt of Cordelia's new novel, On the Shores of Darkness, There Is Light, in Numéro Cinq Magazine: http://goo.gl/9KOheD

Watch a video of Cordelia interacting with students at York University's Canadian Writers in Person here: https://youtu.be/7548Yv5E5qI

Cordelia Strube is an accomplished playwright and the author of nine critically acclaimed novels, including Alex & Zee, Teaching Pigs to Sing, and Lemon. Winner of the CBC literary competition and a Toronto Arts Foundation Award, she has been nominated for the Governor General’s Award, the Trillium Book Award, the WH Smith/Books in Canada First Novel Award, and the Prix Italia, and longlisted for the Scotiabank Giller Prize. Strube is a two-time finalist for ACTRA’s Nellie Award celebrating excellence in Canadian broadcasting and a three-time nominee for the ReLit Award. She lives in Toronto.

Reviews

[Magdelanye · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you've opened this book wondering if you are really up for it, after what you read on the flap or in a review, and speculating maybe on how CS might manage to lead up to such a disturbing incident, which you might not be keen to read about; before you stop cringing, before you've even had a chance to make up your mind, she has grabbed you by the shoulder, not so gently, and yanked you down in your chair where you will not be able to move until you have finished the last word.

I wish this wasnt such a necessary book and I didn't like it. If it were'nt for the subject matter, it could have been a comedy of errors.

Greer is an unusual protagonist. She is a hopeful cynic, obsessive and compulsively honest, and her flaws are all over the place. It's hard to gauge her reliability. Her son sleepwalks. Shouldn't he be getting professional help, especially after what he has done? She's being bombarded by meaningless stimuli and that damn dog won't shut up. The world is full of small and larger atrocities and gross misunderstandings. What is the truth anyways?

Is it better that we just don't look because it's so hard
and it breaks our hearts? p294

CS wont let us get away with that. This is a long book, best read fast. It is not an average 3, more like a 4-, or in my system 5 out of 7

[Krista · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very strange book... woman with cancer... son who killed two senior citizens in his sleep... husband that leaves her for another woman.... it's supposed to be dark humor but there is very little humor. Anything that can be depressing is inserted into the pages of this book. Every time you think that there can't be anymore depressing ideas or thoughts, because there can't be anymore left, another comes at you. It is good writing. I read 320 pages of the 418. I skipped to the end and decided I couldn't take anymore.

[J. Thompson · Rating 5 out of 5]

A strange tale yet eminently readable. Such a combination of humour and tragedy. Greer's son, Sam, has killed two elderly people, Greer has recurrent breast cancer, her husband has remarried someone much younger, she doesn't enjoy her real estate career and, to top it off, she labels everyone she meets with a, usually inappropriate, nickname.

We, the readers, get Greer and her observations on the medical, legal and pharmaceutical professions. We get how hard it is to relate to, and ultimately try to protect, teenage and young adult children.

Amusing, tragic and powerful.

[Jennifer Eagle · Rating 4 out of 5]

I truly enjoyed this book, although at times I wondered why the subject matter was a stark mixture of the very bleak mixed with biting humour. As I delved more into the story, I realized the humour was more a cover for a deeper sadness and a deeper truth. This is what hooked me. I loved the unfolding and complexities of this novel. Filled with surprise until the end.

[Kayla Davis · Rating 5 out of 5]

I truly love Cordelia Strube's writing. I have also read Lemon by her, and I am willing to read anything she publishes. Her brutal honesty on life is refreshing. A book does not always need a happy ending. The raw realness speaks to the purest kind of story.

[Gossymotto · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just like the first book I read by Cordelia Strube, I really found this book annoying for about 50 pages and then I started to get it, then I started to like it, and then I couldn't put it down.

Strube's writing is just to human. The characters are not superheros or able to go above and beyond. They are just everyday people with everyday struggles and early in the book I found myself thinking, "Why am I reading this? It's depressing." But then the characters hook you in and because it's everyday type issues you have no idea where the story is going and that makes it a suspense story.

The main character's life is the shits (I think that would be how she would describe it), and it plays out like a train wreck in slow motion. It's horrific, but hard to look away from.

On the surface the story is horrible and depressing, but the underlying tone, the mother's love for her son is common and extraordinary. . . . . and uplifting.

[Rebecca Kenny · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing book! The story of a woman battling breast cancer and her son on trial for murdering an elderly couple is written with such deliciously dark humor. This book created so many emotions for me from laughter to sadness and grief. I recommend this read for sure.

[Gayle · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you want to lose sleep over a book this is the to choose. It's dark depressing beyond depressing. Even the ending suits the book. .

[Laura · Rating 2 out of 5]

Don't read this if you are depressed.

[Trish Dyke-Brunelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Spoiler....This book was grim from start to finish. I kept hoping for some brightness but it only came in small bits. Even so, the writing was great

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

Never read a book like it. This is one I will never forget.

[Claireinwoodbridge · Rating 3 out of 5]

Creative and well written, this novel is readable. I enjoyed the references to various familiar Toronto landmarks and institutions. A success in terms of the writing. The subject matter is dark and hopeless. All the characters are troubled in their own unique way. There is little redemption for anyone here. Just when you think there is a glimmer of hope, someone comes along and snubs it out. I found the last chapter the most beautifully written. I shed a tear with the last line of the novel. Obviously, I was more engaged with the characters than I realized!

[Flower Petal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Heartbreakingly melancholy.

A story of the bond between a mother and son. I was moved to tears so forcefully that it was difficult to continue reading. A beautiful, emotional novel.

I left off one star only because instead of closing the book feeling satisfied and emotionally charged I was drained and depressed. Seriously a very difficult (emotionally) read.

[Philemon · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the book. At times I was bored and felt like skipping/quitting, then it got better and enjoyed reading it. Drama was there for sure. Thank you Mrs. Strube.