New Releases by Miriam Toews

Två systrar som båda försökt bryta sig loss från det mennonitsamhälle de växt upp i, som älskar varandra men samtidigt är varandras motsatser och nemesis. Den ena, Elf, framgångsrik konsertpianist som gång på gång försöker avsluta sitt liv, den andra, Yoli, strulig, fattig och frånskild och vill bara hålla sin syster vid liv. [Bokinfo].

(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.

«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.

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

Aujourd''hui, grand-maman s''est enfin rappelé que je suis censée aller à l''école, même si ça fait cinquante-neuf jours que je reste à la maison. Pourquoi tu n''es pas à l''école, toi ? a-t-elle demandé. Je n''ai pas répondu parce qu''elle a posé la question comme un policier et qu''elle ne répond jamais aux questions des policiers, alors pourquoi est-ce que je le ferais ? Tu t''es battue ? a lancé grand-maman. J''ai fait ce qu''elle fait toujours quand les policiers débarquent : j''ai brandi un téléphone cellulaire imaginaire pour l''enregistrer. Swiv a été renvoyée de l''école après s''être battue... encore une fois. Et, ce coup-ci, la petite fille de neuf ans n''est pas près de remettre les pieds en classe. Il faudra que les adultes de la maison s''occupent de son éducation. Enfin, certainement pas son père, absent depuis des lustres, ni sa mère, enceinte jusqu''aux yeux, qui revient toujours épuisée et exaspérée du théâtre où elle enchaîne les répétitions. Ce sera donc sa grand-mère, l''exubérante Elvira, qui jouera les enseignantes à domicile, entre quelques pilules pour le cœur et un match des Raptors de Toronto à la télé. S''ensuivront mille et une leçons plus loufoques les unes que les autres au cours desquelles Elvira fera à sa petite-fille le récit de sa vie. Une vie où elle aussi a dû se battre plus d''une fois, contre tous ceux - et ils sont nombreux - qui ont voulu la priver de sa joie et de son indépendance. Porté par la voix inoubliable de Swiv, qui manie le sarcasme avec une dextérité sans égale, Nuit de combat nous livre l''histoire d''une famille pas tout à fait comme les autres où les fous rires, les crises de nerfs et les moments de liesse ne laissent aucune place au silence et à l''indifférence. Avec ce roman survolté à l''écriture jubilatoire, Miriam Toews signe une ode à trois générations de femmes qui n''ont jamais peur d''élever le ton contre les hommes et les dogmes qui veulent les faire taire.

"A tribute to the power of both pain and love through three generations in an unusual family."--From English edition.

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...

Wat maakt een leven de moeite waard? Miriam Toews weet op deze bijna onbeantwoordbare vraag in te gaan met bijzonder mensvriendelijke humor. Niemand zoals ik is een persoonlijk verhaal over twee zussen en een liefde die het leven verlicht

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.

"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.

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?

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

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.

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.

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).

"[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.

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 *

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 major work by one of our most beloved and esteemed writers, the novel is based on real events that happened between 2005 and 2009 in a remote Mennonite community where more than 100 girls and women were drugged unconscious and raped in the night by what they were told were "ghosts" or "demons." Women Talking is an imagined response to these real events. It takes place over 48 hours, as eight women hide in a hayloft while the men are in a nearby town posting bail for the perpetrators. They have come together to debate, on behalf of all the women and children in the community, whether to stay or leave before the men return. Taking minutes is the one man invited by the women to witness the conversation--a former outcast whose own surprising story is revealed as the women talk. By turns poignant, furious, witty, acerbic, tender, devastating, and heartbreaking, the voices in this extraordinary novel are unforgettable."--