Best Selling Books by Miriam Toews

The internationally bestselling novel based on real events. Now a major motion picture from writer/director Sarah Polley, starring Rooney Mara, Claire Foy, Jessie Buckley, with Ben Whishaw and Frances McDormand. “This amazing, sad, shocking, but touching novel, based on a real-life event, could be right out of The Handmaid''s Tale.” --Margaret Atwood, on Twitter "Scorching . . . Women Talking is a wry, freewheeling novel of ideas that touches on the nature of evil, questions of free will, collective responsibility, cultural determinism, and, above all, forgiveness." --New York Times Book Review, Editor''s Choice One evening, eight Mennonite women climb into a hay loft to conduct a secret meeting. For the past two years, each of these women, and more than a hundred other girls in their colony, has been repeatedly violated in the night by demons coming to punish them for their sins. Now that the women have learned they were in fact drugged and attacked by a group of men from their own community, they are determined to protect themselves and their daughters from future harm. While the men of the colony are off in the city, attempting to raise enough money to bail out the rapists and bring them home, these women—all illiterate, without any knowledge of the world outside their community and unable even to speak the language of the country they live in—have very little time to make a choice: Should they stay in the only world they’ve ever known or should they dare to escape? Based on real events and told through the “minutes” of the women’s all-female symposium, Toews’s masterful novel uses wry, politically engaged humor to relate this tale of women claiming their own power to decide. Named a Best Book of the Year By THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW (Notable Books of the Year) * NPR.ORG* THE WASHINGTON POST * REAL SIMPLE * THE NEW YORK TIMES (PARUL SEHGAL''S TOP BOOKS OF THE YEAR) * SLATE * STAR TRIBUNE (MINNEAPOLIS-ST. PAUL) * LITHUB * AUSTIN CHRONICLE * GOOP* ELECTRIC LITERATURE * KIRKUS REVIEWS * JEZEBEL* BUSTLE * PUBLISHERS WEEKLY * TIME* LIBRARY JOURNAL * THE AV CLUB * MASHABLE * VOX *

"One morning Mel Toews put on his coat and hat and walked out of town, prepared to die. A loving husband and father, faithful member of the Mennonite church, and immensely popular school teacher, he was a pillar of his close-knit community. Yet after a lifetime of struggle, he could no longer face the darkness of manic depression. Now his daughter Miriam, an award-winning writer, has given her father a voice for his whole story. In Swing Low, Miriam recounts Mel''s life as she imagines he would have told it, right up to the day he took his final walk. Toews takes us deep inside the experience of depression, but she also gives us winsome and hilarious tales of country life: growing up on a farm, courting a wife, becoming a teacher, and rearing a strong, happy family in the midst of private torment." --

From the bestselling author of Women Talking, a "wrenchingly honest, darkly funny novel" (Entertainment Weekly). Elf and Yoli are sisters. While on the surface Elfrieda''s life is enviable (she''s a world-renowned pianist, glamorous, wealthy, and happily married) and Yolandi''s a mess (she''s divorced and broke, with two teenagers growing up too quickly), they are fiercely close-raised in a Mennonite household and sharing the hardship of Elf''s desire to end her life. After Elf''s latest attempt, Yoli must quickly determine how to keep her family from falling apart while facing a profound question: what do you do for a loved one who truly wants to die? All My Puny Sorrows is a deeply personal story that is as much comedy as it is tragedy, a goodbye grin from the friend who taught you how to live.

"Move over, Scout Finch! There''s a new contender for feistiest girl in fiction, and her name is Swiv." -USA Today, "Best Books of the Year" "Toews is a master of dialogue." -New York Times Book Review, Editors'' Choice "A revelation." -Richard Russo NPR Best Books of the Year * Shortlisted for the Scotiabank Giller Prize * Writers'' Trust Fiction Prize Finalist * Indie Next Pick * Amazon Editors'' Pick * Apple Book of the Month From the bestselling author of Women Talking and All My Puny Sorrows, a compassionate, darkly humorous, and deeply wise novel about three generations of women. “You''re a small thing,” Grandma writes, “and you must learn to fight.” Swiv''s Grandma, Elvira, has been fighting all her life. From her upbringing in a strict religious community, she has fought those who wanted to take away her joy, her independence, and her spirit. She has fought to make peace with her loved ones when they have chosen to leave her. And now, even as her health fails, Grandma is fighting for her family: for her daughter, partnerless and in the third term of a pregnancy; and for her granddaughter Swiv, a spirited nine-year-old who has been suspended from school. Cramped together in their Toronto home, on the precipice of extraordinary change, Grandma and Swiv undertake a vital new project, setting out to explain their lives in letters they will never send. Alternating between the exuberant, precocious voice of young Swiv and her irrepressible, tenacious Grandma, Fight Night is a love letter to mothers and grandmothers, and to all the women who are still fighting-painfully, ferociously- for a way to live on their own terms.

This “darkly funny and provocative” coming-of-age novel balances grief and hope in the voice of a witty teenage girl whose Canadian family is shattered by fundamentalist Christianity (O, The Oprah Magazine). From the author of Women Talking—now an Academy Award-winning film starring Claire Foy, Rooney Mara, Frances McDormand, and Jessie Buckley “Half of our family, the better–looking half, is missing,” Nomi Nickel tells us at the beginning of A Complicated Kindness. Left alone with her sad, peculiar father, her days are spent piecing together why her mother and sister have disappeared and contemplating her inevitable career at Happy Family Farms, a chicken slaughterhouse on the outskirts of East Village. Not the East Village in New York City where Nomi would prefer to live, but an oppressive town founded by Mennonites on the cold, flat plains of Manitoba, Canada. This darkly funny novel is the world according to the unforgettable Nomi, a bewildered and wry sixteen–year–old trapped in a town governed by fundamentalist religion and in the shattered remains of a family it destroyed. In Nomi''s droll, refreshing voice, we''re told the story of an eccentric, loving family that falls apart as each member lands on a collision course with the only community any of them have ever known. A work of fierce humor and tragedy by a writer who has taken the American market by storm, this searing, tender, comic testament to family love will break your heart.

"[A] memorable portrait of a struggling young person who finds unexpected resilience and peace . . . Hilarious, heartbreaking, and poignant." —Booklist Miriam Toews welcomes her readers to the Have–a–Life housing project (better known as Half–a–Life). The welfare regulations are endless and the rate–fink neighbors won''t mind their own business. Lucy Von Alstyne sends fictitious letters to her friend Alicia, pretending to be the father of Alicia''s twins. When the two mothers and their five children set off on a journey to find him, facing along the way the complications of living in poverty and raising fatherless children, Lucy discovers this just may be the summer of her amazing luck.

Days after being dumped by her boyfriend Marc in Paris - he was heading off to an ashram and said we could communicate telepathically - Hattie hears her sister Min has been checked into a psychiatric hospital, and finds herself flying back to ...

From the acclaimed Giller Prize Finalist and Governor General’s Award Winner: a delightfully funny and charming second novel about Canada’s smallest town. Life in Winnipeg didn’ t go as planned for Knute and her daughter. But living back in Algren with her parents and working for the longtime mayor, Hosea Funk, has its own challenges: Knute finds herself mixed up with Hosea’s attempts to achieve his dream of meeting the Prime Minister — even if that means keeping the town’s population at an even 1500. Bringing to life small-town Canada and all its larger-than-life characters, A Boy of Good Breeding is a big-hearted, hilarious novel about finding out where you belong.

From the award-winning author of A Complicated Kindness comes a heart-wrenching yet wryly funny story about setting out on the road to self-discovery, and finding the strength to survive in the face of immeasurable loss. Nineteen-year-old Irma Voth lives in a Mennonite community in northern Mexico, surrounded by desert and both physically and culturally isolated from the surrounding towns and cities. It’s been six years since her family up and left Canada to escape the prying eyes of the government and preserve their religious freedom, but Irma still misses the minor freedoms she had in their small town. She even misses the cold. This new life has not been an easy one, and Irma finds herself deserted by her husband of one year, who has left to pursue a life of drug-running, instead of working her family’s farm. The most devastating blow for Irma is that he didn’t take her with him, take her away, so now she’s left to live under her father’s domineering rule alone. Things change for Irma when a film crew moves into the empty house next door. They’ve come to make a movie about the Mennonite community, and have made a deal with Irma’s father to stay on their land. The director enlists Irma to work for them as a translator, as she can speak not only Spanish and English but Plattdeutsch, or Low German, the language of her people. At first bemused by the ragged and absurd crewmembers, Irma comes to embrace the passion and creative freedom of their world – but in doing so brings on the wrath of her father, who is determined to keep her from it at all costs. When Irma’s thirteen-year-old sister Aggie begins to come by and spend time with the crew, their father is sent over the edge with rage, and Irma is forced to make a hard decision to save not only herself, but her younger sister, and to break the dark chain of violence holding her family. The girls flee to the capital, Mexico City, not knowing where they’ll find food or shelter, let alone build a life, but knowing for the first time that they are free to make that choice. And even as they begin to understand the truth of the tragedy that has their family in its grip, Irma and Aggie use their love as a source of strength to help each other move on from their past lives and work toward a future that can truly become anything they want it to be.

Una nit, vuit dones mennonites de diferents edats es troben en un paller per dur a terme una reunió secreta. Durant els darrers dos anys, aquestes dones, i més d''un centenar d''altres noies de la seva colònia, han estat violades repetidament de nit per dimonis que venen a castigar els seus pecats. Ara que les dones han descobert que havien estat drogades i atacades per un grup d''homes de la seva pròpia comunitat, estan decidides a protegir-se a si mateixes i a salvaguardar les seves filles de possibles mals futurs. Mentre els homes de la colònia van a la ciutat per pagar la fiança i alliberar els violadors, aquestes dones, totes analfabetes, sense cap coneixement del món fora de la seva comunitat, tindran molt poc temps per prendre una decisió: haurien de quedar-se a la comunitat, l''únic món que han conegut, o haurien d''atrevir-se a marxar-ne?

Colonie mennonite de Manitoba, Bolivie, 2009. Alors que les hommes sont partis à la ville, huit femmes – grands-mères, mères et jeunes filles – tiennent une réunion secrète dans un grenier à foin. Depuis quatre ans, nombre d’entre elles sont retrouvées, à l’aube, inconscientes, rouées de coups et violées. Pour ces chrétiens baptistes qui vivent coupés du monde, l’explication est évidente, c’est le diable qui est à l’œuvre. Mais les femmes, elles, le savent : elles sont victimes de la folie des hommes. Elles ont quarante-huit heures pour reprendre leur destin en main. Quarante-huit heures pour parler de ce qu’elles ont vécu, et de ce qu’elles veulent désormais vivre. Analphabètes, elles parlent un obscur dialecte, et ignorent tout du monde extérieur. Pourtant, au fil des pages de ce roman qui retranscrit les minutes de leur assemblée, leurs questions, leur rage, leurs aspirations se révèlent être celles de toutes les femmes. Inspiré d’un fait divers réel, Ce qu’elles disent est un roman éblouissant sur la possibilité pour les femmes de s’affranchir ensemble de ce qui les entrave. Miriam Toews est née en 1964 dans une communauté mennonite du Manitoba, au Canada. Elle est l’autrice de plusieurs romans et a été lauréate de nombreux prix littéraires, notamment du Governor General’s Award. Elle vit au Canada. Ce qu’elles disent est son premier roman à paraître chez Buchet/Chastel, et le troisième à paraître en France après Drôle de tendresse (Seuil, 2006) et Pauvres petits chagrins (Christian Bourgois, 2015).

Uma remota comunidade religiosa, uma sucessão de abusos sexuais, uma reunião secreta entre mulheres e a escolha que pode vir a mudar o destino. Inspirado numa história verídica, eis o romance que deu origem ao filme A voz das mulheres , vencedor do Óscar para Melhor Argumento Adaptado. Certa noite, oito mulheres menonitas reúnem-se num celeiro para um encontro secreto. Nos últimos anos, mais de uma centena de mulheres pertencentes à mesma comunidade foram repetidamente violadas durante a noite por «demónios» que as castigavam pelos seus pecados. A terrível verdade, contudo, é que os abusos eram perpetrados a partir de dentro, da sua própria colónia. Depois desta descoberta, decidem proteger-se, e às suas filhas, e pôr fim aos abusos. Quando os homens se ausentam da colónia, estas mulheres, todas iletradas e incapazes sequer de falar a língua do país onde vivem, terão de fazer a escolha mais difícil: permanecer no único mundo que conhecem ou arriscar a fuga para o desconhecido e a liberdade. Miriam Toews, baseando-se num episódio verídico, conta-nos uma história plena de aspereza e comoção: uma fortíssima experiência de superação e fraternidade, de combate pelo poder de decidir o próprio destino e de afirmação do lugar próprio das mulheres. Os elogios da crítica: «Um romance impressionante, triste e chocante, mas comovente. Baseado em factos reais, poderia ter saído diretamente de A história de uma serva.» Margaret Atwood «Um manifesto feminista que vai delicadamente destapando o horror, ao mesmo tempo que fervilha com a ternura e o humor irónico a que os leitores de Miriam Toews se habituaram. Os aclamados romances desta escritora carregam a sombra da sua própria educação, embora ela nunca antes tenha escrito com tamanha dilaceração - fazendo mira certeira ao fundamentalismo e suas hipocrisias.» The New York Times «Miriam Toews é perversamente divertida e corajosamente sincera. Pratica uma arte do escape, já que encontrasempre forma de as suas personagens se libertarem, apesar das circunstâncias que as enredam.» The New Yorker «Impressionante. Uma obra de profunda inteligência moral e uma lição de ética maravilhosamente apresentada como romance. Tão feroz quanto terna.» NPR «Assertivo e arrepiante. Uma história arrebatadora, construída de modo notável.O tempo e o lugar delimitados e condensados deste romance produzem um efeito dramático soberbo.» Wall Street Journal «Pleno de ironia e liberdade, um romance de ideias que reflete sobre a natureza do mal, o livre-arbítrio, a responsabilidade coletiva, o determinismo cultural e, acima de tudo, o perdão.» New York Times Book Review

«Ets una coseta petita i has d''aprendre a lluitar.» La Swiv s''ha pres el consell de l''àvia massa literalment i ara està expulsada de l''escola. La mare està embarassada i no ha deixat de treballar, així que l''àvia serà l''encarregada de la formació de la Swiv i ho farà amb una educació molt particular. La Swiv aprèn matemàtiques amb un trencaclosques amish o com es cava una tomba a l''hivern, i amb l''àvia emprenen un nou projecte vital, amb què es proposen explicar les seves vides escrivint cartes que mai enviaran. Els mètodes de l''àvia potser són poc ortodoxos, però s''ha enfrontat al pitjor de la vida amb un esperit rebel i independent, i això és el que espera transmetre a la seva neta. El seu temps s''està acabant. La salut li falla i el nou nadó està a punt d''arribar: podrà inspirar, l''àvia, aquesta flama en la Swiv i assegurar-se que no s''apagui mai? Commovedora, hilarant i profundament viva, Que no s''apagui la flama és una carta d''amor a les mares i les àvies, i a totes les dones que encara lluiten —dolorosament i feroç— per una manera de viure independent, amb les seves pròpies normes.

Une adolescence mennonite Nomi, seize ans, ne rêve que d’une chose : prendre le large. Partir, comme sa mère et sa soeur, loin d’East Village, une austère communauté mennonite. Malgré la promesse faite à son père de ne jamais le quitter, elle ne peut se résigner à une vie étriquée avec pour seul avenir un travail à l’abattoir de poulets du coin.En attendant le grand soir, l’adolescente laisse libre cours à sa répréhensible passion pour la transgression. Aucun interdit n’échappera au feu qui brûle en elle danssa quête de liberté. De sa propre enfance dans une communauté mennonite,Miriam Toews tire un roman plein d’humour noir, un portrait acéré de l’amour familial et une ode à l’énergie ravageuse de la jeunesse. Immense best-seller au Canada, Drôle de tendresse y a été récompensé par le prestigieux prix du Gouverneur général.

L''Elf i la Yoli són dues germanes intel·ligents i ben avingudes. L''Elfrieda és una pianista de renom mundial, encantadora, rica i feliçment casada: vol morir. La Yolandi està divorciada, li costa arribar a fi de mes amb el sou que guanya i se''n va al llit amb els homes equivocats mentre mira de trobar el veritable amor: vol desesperadament mantenir la seva germana gran amb vida. Però l''últim intent de suïcidi de l''Elf és un xoc: és a tres setmanes de l''inici de la seva esperada gira internacional. Podrà recuperar la salut a temps? A mesura que la situació es torna cada vegada més complicada, la Yoli s''enfronta a la decisió més esfereïdora de la seva vida. "La novel·la que ha escrit —tan exquisidament que en voldreu assaborir cada paraula—, és com si se l''hagués arrencada del cor." Sunday Times

Elfrieda et Yolandi, deux sœurs issues d’une petite communauté mennonite de Winnipeg, au sud du Canada. La première, pianiste renommée, mariée à un homme aimant et dévoué souffre de dépression. La musique semble d’abord lui offrir un répit, jouer du piano la maintient en contact avec le monde extérieur, mais bientôt cette source de plaisir devient, elle aussi, un motif d’angoisse. La seconde, romancière enchaînant les déboires amoureux et financiers, fait son possible pour venir en aide à sa sœur. Avec justesse et empathie, Miriam Toews dresse le portrait de ces deux personnages et de la relation unique que les lie dans un roman plein de poésie. « Plein d’excentricité, de références littéraires pertinentes et accessibles, la tragicomédie et l’humanité de Pauvres petits chagrins rappellent le meilleur de John Irving. » The Telegraph « Un roman rare de par son jeu d’esprit sombrement pétillant. » The Guardian « Pauvres petits chagrins est un livre sur la relation entre deux sœurs. Une représentation précise et touchante de cette situation complexe. » The Globe and Mail

Åtte kvinner sitter på et høyloft og diskuterer i all hemmelighet. Ingen av dem kan lese eller skrive, derfor er August Epp blitt bedt om å føre referat. Kvinnene er mennonitter. I kolonien der de lever er det begått fryktelige overgrep mot kvinnene: gamle, unge, barn. Nå har de åtte kvinnene førtiåtte timer på seg. Innen den tid må de ha tatt en avgjørelse: Hvordan skal de leve med den uretten som er begått mot dem. Toews lar oss ta del i samtalen mens de trøster, erter, kjefter, diskuterer og tenker høyt sammen. Gjennom samtalene går det langsomt opp for oss hva de har vært utsatt for, og hvordan livet arter seg for dem som er nederst på rangstigen i et strengt religiøst samfunn. Miriam Toews (f.1964) bor iToronto. Toews har mottatt et tjuetallspriser for sine romaner.

Da sua nonna Swiv impara milioni di cose indispensabili e del tutto inutili, essenziali e strampalate. Soprattutto impara a ridere sempre e non mollare mai. «Siamo tutte combattenti. Siamo una famiglia di combattenti»: sua nonna Elvira, incontenibile e meravigliosamente irriverente, sua mamma «Mooshie», lunatica e pericolosamente incinta, e lei, Swiv, un vulcano di parole e idee da brandire contro le avversità. Ridere, combattere, semmai piangere, ma tutte insieme, perché «disfunzionale» può non essere cosí male, se si accompagna a una famiglia come la sua. E poi si sa, le battaglie solitarie sono le piú dure. «Toews non si limita a raccontare una storia, lei apparecchia un mondo intero». Joshua Ferris «Divertente, triste e meravigliosamente tenero». «Kirkus Reviews» Swiv è stata espulsa da scuola per rissa - non per la prima volta - e lo scrive a un padre che non c''è, come gli racconta tutto quel che capita nella sua piccola, strampalata famiglia. Questa volta a scuola non ci torna, l''ha deciso. Alle adulte di casa dovrà star bene: del resto sua madre, in rotta con il regista della pièce teatrale nella quale recita, al terzo trimestre di gravidanza e sempre pronta a tirar fuori «l''artiglieria pesante», come Swiv definisce le sue incontenibili e preoccupanti crisi di rabbia, ha altro a cui badare. E quanto a sua nonna Elvira, bè, ci penserà lei all''istruzione casalinga della nipotina: una «riunione di redazione» ogni mattina, tanto per fissare gli obiettivi, e poi via, lezioni di matematica insolubile, analisi dei sogni, Sudoku, scrittura di ricordi, lettere a Dio e ai figli non nati, Fatti memorabili, Il paroliere, il tutto con il sottofondo a volume spiegato di partorienti e gente assassinata nei telefilm in tv, o dei berci della partita ogni volta che giocano i Raptors. Soprattutto, la nonna Elvira le insegna a lottare sempre e a non mollare mai, come ha dovuto fare lei, aggrappandosi alla sua lingua segreta, nel suo lungo doloroso passato di vittima della religione e del patriarcato che ha visto morire quasi tutti i suoi parenti, alcuni di propria volontà. Tanto è sboccata, civettuola ed esilarante Elvira, tanto è prude, seria e coscienziosa Swiv: è lei a occuparsi dell''incolumità della nonna, somministrandole le medicine (e gettandosi a terra all''urlo di Scatta, Swiv! ogni volta che ne semina qualcuna sul pavimento), lavandola, cucinando per lei, accompagnandola in viaggi avventurosi, tenendo a mente tutti i dettagli, perché alla nonna «restano solo cinque minuti da vivere e non vuole sprecarli in piccolezze ». E poi c''è quel bambino nella pancia di sua madre, Gord lo chiamano, e, chissà, potrebbe anche essere femmina...

Swiv zit thuis, geschorst van school, omdat ze een advies van haar oma – ‘je bent een klein ding, je moet leren vechten’ – te letterlijk heeft opgevolgd. Haar moeder is hoogzwanger en een ‘lastige dame’. Oma Elvira neemt de scholing van haar kleindochter over met boeiend onderwijs in een onconventionele stijl. Oma Elvira vertelt graag grappige verhalen. Ze is streng religieus opgevoed, maar heeft zich altijd verzet tegen degenen die haar haar levensvreugde en haar onafhankelijkheid wilden ontnemen. Ze heeft alle tegenslag in het leven dapper het hoofd geboden. En zelfs nu haar gezondheid achteruitgaat vecht ze voor haar familie: voor haar partnerloze dochter en voor haar pittige negenjarige kleindochter Swiv. Aangemoedigd door de gezinstherapeut schrijft Swiv een brief aan haar afwezige vader. Swiv geeft haar oma en moeder de opdracht een brief te schrijven aan ''Gord'', haar nog ongeboren zusje. ‘Je bent een klein ding,’ schrijft oma waarheidsgetrouw aan Gord, ‘en je moet leren vechten.’ Met de afwisseling tussen de uitbundige stem van de pientere Swiv en haar onstuitbare, koppige oma is Nachtgevechten een ontroerende liefdesbrief aan moeders en grootmoeders, en aan alle vrouwen die nog steeds vechten om hun leven te leiden zoals zij dat willen.

‘Dit verbazingwekkende, schokkende, maar ontroerende verhaal had regelrecht uit The Handmaid’s Tale kunnen komen.’ – Margaret Atwood Een groep vrouwen moet binnen 48 uur beslissen over de rest van hun leven. Nu aan het licht is gekomen dat zij stelselmatig zijn gedrogeerd en verkracht door mannen uit hun eigen gemeenschap, bespreken ze de drie opties die ze zichzelf hebben gegeven: niets doen, het uitvechten, of weggaan naar een wereld die hun volledig onbekend is. In het geheim komen de vrouwen samen op een hooizolder, waar een reeks felle discussies volgt. Hoe kunnen ze overleven, hun dochters beschermen, hun zoons opvoeden en hun geloof behouden? Met Wat ze zeiden baseert Miriam Toews zich op een waargebeurd verhaal in een mennonitische gemeenschap, en vertelt ze vol mededogen, hartstocht en wrange humor over deze bijzondere vrouwen, die voor het eerst het heft in eigen hand nemen. Miriam Toews (Steinbach, 1964) werd geboren in een mennonitische gemeenschap in Manitoba, Canada. Op haar achttiende liet ze de gemeenschap achter zich en ging film studeren aan de universiteit van Manitoba en journalistiek aan de universiteit van King’s College, Halifax. Ze is auteur van verschillende romans en heeft talloze literaire prijzen gewonnen, waaronder de Governor General’s Award for Fiction. Met Wat ze zeiden behaalde ze de bestsellerlijst in Canada en vele andere landen.

(كانت تريد الموت، بينما أردتها أن تعيش، وكنا عدونين تحب إحدانا الأخرى..) ما الذي يتعين عليك فعله، عندما تترجاك شقيقتك المقربة لمساعدتها على الرحيل من هذا العالم، لأنها تجد الحياة مؤلمة لدرجة لا تطاق؟ هذه هي الخلفية التي تدور حولها أحداث رواية ميريام تيفز الجريئة وللؤثرة، لكنها أيضا تتسم بالسخرية والحس الفكاهي وهي تتحدث عن عن الحب، والفقد، والبقاء بولي وألف شقيقتان موهوبتان، مقريتان من بعضهما، ورغم الاختلافات الكبيرة بينهما، فإن هناك كثيرا من الأشياء المشتركة بينهما، كل أحزاني الضئيلة، رواية تجمع بين الخيال، وعناصر من السيرة الذاتية للكاتبة، تروي يولي أحداث الحكاية عن شقيقتها، وأسرتهما، ونشأتهما في بلدة كندية صغيرة بين أفراد الطائفة المينونانية المتشددة ألف هي الشقيقة الكبرى، وهي عازفة بيانو محترفة تتمتع بالشهرة، والنجاح، والثروة، والجمال، وتحيا مع زوج محب مخلص لها، لكنها تعاني من اكتئاب مزمن وبعد محاولة انتحار فاشلة أخرى، تدخل قسم الأمراض النفسية بالمستشفى بولي، الشقيقة الصغري، كاتبة لها عدة كتب للناشئة، حققت نجاحا متوسطا وتحاول تأليف كتاب أدبي عكفت عليه لعدة سنوات، نحيا بولي حياة فوضوية ولديها اثنان من الأبناء في سن المراهقة من زيجتين فاشلتين، ولا تفتأ تدخل علاقة تلو الأخرى مع رجال غير ملائمين لها، تجد يولي نفسها في النهاية مسؤولة عن حياة شقيقتها، التي تتوسل إليها لمساعدتها على إنهائها. ميريام نيفز كاتبة كندية، من أصول تنتمي إلى الطائفة المينونانية، نشأت في شتاينباخ بمانيتوبا، وعاشت في مونتريال ولندن، قبل أن تستقر في وينسيج يمانيتوبا، ألفت تيفز عدة أعمال، كما عملت أيضا صحفية مستقلة، وفي الإذاعة. كل أحزاني الفتيلة، هي أحدث رواياتها، صدرت عام 2011، وقد ترشحت وفازت بعدد من الجوائز، كما جرى تحويلها إلى فيلم صدر عام 2021 وفاز بعدة جوائز.