Brother

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First, the facts. In the summer of 2010, at 4.13am, Gary rang 999, telling the operator he had been trying to kill himself. Taken to hospital by ambulance, he was left alone in a room, where he again tried to kill himself. Gary barely survived, but had to be put into a medically induced coma. His mother, young sister and brother John faced days of watching him die. Niven uses this period as a springboard into the past, trying to trace how Gary came to his hospital bed; to tell their story right from its start. There was, at that time, a lot of anxiety about visible minorities moving into the area and changing the landscape. I grew up hearing these stories — about people I love and respect, who were profoundly creative and hardworking and simply had dreams of living a good life. These stories are often overlooked and ignored. I wanted to capture this narrative, one of resilience, creativity, tenderness and love." So I was expecting (and received) blood and gore. What I did not plan for was for such a deep story. The getting there was all the fun (???? – if you’re nuts like Mitchell). As for my reaction? I don’t do so well with feelings. They tend to make me all . . . .

Even after this happens though, loyalty to the family remains one of the most important themes in his world. Then you have Momma...Momma wears the pants in this family. No question about it. Momma stays in the kitchen a lot, except for when she gets a hankering for one of "her girls." It is so well written, although horrifying, it feels 100% plausible. I mean, why couldn't this happen?And it is with this foundational belief in her safety that her universe diverges from that of her sons. Here is their most fundamental culture clash: she is a woman with a country where she is wanted, far away though it may be, and while her striving may lead nowhere, it probably won’t get her murdered by police. I LOVED it. This week has been all kinds of real life crazy for me and I guess it's fitting that I finished this craziness on Halloween night. Now, that’s not to say this wasn’t a stabby selection. On the contrary, it was indeed. It even featured a little something extra . . . Choose a cover colour: choose from Vanilla, Baby Pink, Baby Blue or Sunshine. The children’s name and characters also appear on the cover of the book, making each copy utterly unique.

Throw in a music loving sister and older psycho brother who has decided his name should be "Reb" and you have a really close family. John Niven‘s brand is that of hyper-masculinity. A prolific novelist, best known for his music industry slasher Kill Your Friends, Niven’s books employ the darkest of humour as they wrestle with, and revel in, machismo: Straight White Male, Kill ‘Em All, No Good Deed; their titles speak for themselves. Now, he has written a memoir about his brother, Gary, who took his own life at the age of 42. It is tender, raw and beautiful.Brother takes us inside the lives of Michael and Francis. They are the sons of Trinidadian immigrants, their father has disappeared and their mother works double, sometimes triple, shifts so her boys might fulfil the elusive promise of their adopted home. Francis and Mother share a quiet devotion and endless conflict that is unique to first-born children and single mothers. Her sadness is the subject of Chariandy’s most beautiful prose, from the casual way she explains her presence to overattentive sales people (“just window shopping”) to passages such as this: Just your typical clan. Wade is the dad of the house. He might be a puss. The only time he steps up to the plate is when he teaches his young son to "field dress" some critters. I really became attached to Michael as a character. As morally grey as he was, he seemed like the one shining light in this gloomy, hostile world. Duration 0:48 Featured VideoCanada Reads trailer for Brother by David Chariandy. Why David Chariandy wrote Brother

Then add the new baby: include a baby brother, baby sister – or baby sibling if it’s a surprise! – in the story. Choose from three adorable baby characters, each with a different natural skin tone. I gave no shits! I begged! I pleaded! Then thank Tom Cruise a friend got tired of me whiningtook pity on my poor soul and gifted me a copy. Our new sibling book is cleverly designed so you can personalise it for two children, whether your new baby has arrived yet or not. See what just happened there???? That’s what I felt like while reading this book. I got myself all geared up for a good slasher story and then WHAM! Totally blindsided.

Ordinary Human Failings by Megan Nolan is a soulful meditation on family trauma

What a tangled web was woven. Oh and I’m totally getting ready to go there, so all of you haters who think a woman can’t write some seriously f*& Brother won the 2017 Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize, the 2018 Toronto Book Award and the 2018 Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize. It was also longlisted for the 2017 Scotiabank Giller Prize. The Next Chapter 11:38 Aparita Bhandari on 3 books set in Scarborough Featured VideoColumnist Aparita Bhandari on Scarborough by Catherine Hernandez, Brother by David Chariandy and That Time I Loved You by Carianne Leung. More about Brother from CBC Radio

Brother will linger long after you finish, move you to analyze your own prejudices, to look beyond headlines and question your own idea of what is valour and heroism." Them’s the perks of livin’ out in the wilderness, Momma had once said. You scream and scream and ain’t nobody around to hear.” Young brother Michael goes along with the family. Because he really has to provide for the family because times is rough.It's weird to me how a character, by no means a perfect person, can become so loved, instilling such heavy feelings of empathy in a reader. I dunno. I guess I like that Dorothy gets to escape to a place where it's colorful and magical instead of livin' in Kansas all her life." He paused, then added, "Those flying monkeys were pretty good too." Near the end of the novel, Mother takes her teenage boys for a walk. They watch tiny moths circle a plant near the creek. Michael describes them as torn pieces of an old book, “a scattered and wasted alphabet. Without any meaning at all.” But Mother retains her hope, useless as it may be. “Look closer,” she says. “Cup your hand and feel the proof of them against you. They’re not trash. They’re living things. And they’re flying.” It is horrible and dreadful, but it could happen. Nothing is scarier than mankind and their capacity to harm one another. At least not to me.